Libera Me From Hell
by resplendentSILVER
Summary: Humanity was driven underground 10 years ago by abominations called Earthbound Gods. Though rebels exist, Yusei Fudo is only interested in survival...at first. TTGL-inspired AU, though not quite a crossover. Gore, darker personalities, character death.
1. You have a deal

_This is the story of a single man who would change his fate._

_

* * *

_

_It has been nearly one decade since the beings called Earthbound Gods appeared and wreaked their vicious havoc upon the planet. The pathetically small percentage of humanity that escaped their wrath has been forced to flee underground. Though resourceful enough to carve out a complex underground network of tunnels, and maintain some semblance of normal life, they cower below the earth in fear, helpless against the terror that lurks just above their heads._

_Unsurprisingly, however, food underground tends to be scarce, so most people who are unable to join one of the few underground villages resort to scavenging, thievery, and sometimes even murder. For these unfortunate people, life under the surface is harsh, brutal, and often short. Only the bravest of individuals dare to leave the underground in order to obtain rations, and they are usually caught and eaten by the Earthbounds within a few months. This existence, though pitiful, has quickly become routine for most people. They accept that there is nothing they can do to improve their conditions. After all, who could stand up to Gods?_

_And yet, no matter what, there are always a few dissenters, a handful of naysayers who seek to redirect their destinies. The existence of these dissenters is, of course, a part of human nature itself…and this is their tale._

* * *

Crow had actually been feeling pretty good up until this point, thank you very much. He'd met quite a few more villagers than usual that day, and had cleaned out all of their pockets completely. Most had only been carrying bread crumbs or half-gnawed strips of meat, but one had yielded an entire apple. Sure, it had a thin coat of lint, but apples were easy to clean; and besides, Crow had resorted to consuming worse things before, far worse. In any case, he would feast tonight.

He'd been so pleased with himself, in fact, that apparently somewhere along the way back to his home (if it could be called that, as it'd only been a sizable indent in one of the many underground tunnels down here), he'd gotten lost. Now, as he stood at a fork in the path, he could debate and debate, but still had no idea which route he'd come through.

Cursing his inattentiveness, he reminded himself not to be reckless about this. After all, if he took a wrong turn from here he'd end up even more lost than he already was! …If that was possible, anyway.

Deciding that he was screwed anyways if he just stood there, he picked the left exit at random and began to move through the dank tunnel. It looked so dark and lonely that he'd expected his feet to sink slightly into the dirt underneath, but instead it felt firm and well-tread from frequent passage. Crow ran a palm briefly over the tunnel wall and found it unusually smooth. He felt his stomach drop - perhaps this wasn't the path he'd taken after all. He had half a mind to give up and turn back, when he took a corner and - his eyes were met with light!

Someone had dug a large room, just ahead! From what he could see, small bulbs were strung up from small posts nailed into the wall. Crow had to blink back the spots forming in his eyes. He'd never seen lights so bright before - outside of villages, anyway. Did someone live here? If so, they were surprisingly resourceful! Damn, this was fascinating. Nearly tripping over himself in excitement, he stumbled into the room, and was shocked yet again.

It didn't appear like a hermit's dwelling; rather, it seemed big enough for four, maybe five people. Worn and unattractive, yet sturdy-looking tables and chairs stood here and there, and a tall shelf was situated at the very back. Strange tools of all shapes and sizes were strewn everywhere, some Crow couldn't even recognize. Even weirder, various bizarre machinery had been set up on most of the tables, even more alien to him than the tools.

The most intriguing object by far, however, was a large, fascinating red mass of gears, plates, and generally miscellaneous parts wired together and sitting in a corner. Unlike everything else in the room, it didn't look as if anyone had touched it for ages. Crow couldn't see why they hadn't – he couldn't explain why, but something about it was…beautiful.

Against his better judgment (actually, what better judgment? This place was so interesting that by now "better judgment" was little more than a tiny little nagging voice), he began to make his way to the half-finished machine. Taking great care not to step on anything that looked particularly sharp or otherwise dangerous, he slowly sidled his way closer and closer to the thing – until he could almost touch it.

_In fact, y'know what?_ He reached out….

"Freeze", a voice demanded calmly.

Crow jumped violently despite himself, and slowly turned around to the barrel of a gun. Its owner, a dark-haired man who couldn't have been much older than Crow himself, glared at him from behind the weapon with sharp eyes. There was something alarmingly sunken about his figure. At first, Crow thought the man had appeared straight out of nowhere; then noticed that there was a mass of chairs and blankets on the opposite side of the room, organized in a manner that if a human had been sitting or lying there, even his keen eyes probably would have missed them.

"Hands in the air", the man stated again, in the same level tone. Crow obeyed immediately. At the same time, he tried to weigh the chances that this guy might be bluffing, and that the pistol would be unloaded or even fake. However, seeing how he knew nothing about this person other than that their house was filled with machines and sharp things, it was most likely in his best interests to take said person seriously.

"Turn around and leave", the man said, and Crow hurried to comply…until, the stranger added, "Oh, and leave your rations here, as well."

Crow stopped. Like hell he was going to leave his food! Who knew when he'd be able to get in such a haul again? But…the person behind him did have a pistol. He was debating furiously on what to do when a dull thud sounded behind him, and there was the distinct bang of a gun firing! Crow emitted a high, involuntary shriek, and whirled around, ready to beg the guy not to shoot again….

Only to find that the stranger wasn't there anymore.

Crow was ready to panic again when he realized that disappearance wasn't the case at all. A step closer confirmed his suspicions – the man had actually collapsed onto the floor! The gun had merely gone off from the impact of being dropped. (He wasn't sure what had happened to the bullet, but as he couldn't see blood anywhere, it was probably safe to assume it'd only gone into a wall or something.)

…Well, this was certainly awkward.

Now that there was no longer any danger of his brains being blown out, however, Crow took the opportunity to observe his would-be assailant.

Crow pegged the guy at being around seventeen to nineteen. His hair stuck up everywhere; it was like this person didn't even own a comb. (If Crow wasn't mistaken, however, there also seemed to be some highlights in his hair. This baffled him.) Despite living underground just like Crow, his skin also seemed to be rather tanned. (This also baffled him. Crow glanced around at the hanging bulbs. Could artificial light create a tan? He had no idea. Outside of the dim and minimal lighting set up in most tunnels, electricity was the privilege of a villager, and therefore alien to him.)

The stranger was also frighteningly thin. In fact, Crow was alarmed to find that the stranger appeared to be so emaciated, so starved, that he could see what was probably every last bone in the guy's hands. No wonder he had demanded food. Crow turned the guy's limp body over with his foot. He then reached into his pocket and withdrew a small piece of what he assumed to be steak, until remembering that you weren't supposed to give a famished person meat. And he was pretty sure bread crumbs weren't going to be enough.

That left the apple, then.

Damnit.

Considering that only a minute ago this man had been threatening to kill him, Crow was ready to just leave him there and get on with his life.

But….

"Ugh, he had better be grateful for this", Crow grimaced. Snatching a knife from a nearby table, he cut a slice from the apple and proceeded with his first attempt at force-feeding.

At first, he had no idea how to go about it, holding the stranger's jaw open and attempting to poke the fruit in. He must have hit something weird in his inexperience, because the man abruptly gagged (making Crow jump), rolled over onto his side, and promptly vomited all over the floor next to him.

Crow commenced with a loud stream of his best and most creative swear words.

When he'd summoned the courage to try again, however, this time when the apple was placed in the stranger's mouth, slowly but surely, he began to chew and swallow. This startled Crow for what felt like the twenty-sixth time, and he expected the guy to get up or something…but, no, he was still mostly unconscious, and eating out of sheer will and instinct. (Crow found this rather impressive, if pretty freaky as well.) He fed the man another piece, but draped a blanket over the man and waited a few hours before trying again. You weren't supposed to give a starving person too much food at once.

After the fourth session, however, Crow was feeling exhausted, and his eyes felt like they would implode in their sockets if he tried to keep them open any longer. He reasoned to himself that now that he'd shared his food with this person, he probably couldn't object anymore even if Crow stayed the night. That would just be ungrateful.

There were some sleeping blankets Crow hadn't noticed before stashed behind the shelf. He cheerfully helped himself to one of them, and was fast asleep within five minutes.

* * *

When Crow awoke, the stranger was gone. Still half-asleep, he wasn't too bothered by this phenomenon at the time, and immediately went back to sleep.

The next time he woke up, however, the guy still wasn't there. This time, Crow began to feel a bit concerned. Crawling from the sleeping bag, he began to search the room. The first place he checked after taking a quick scan of the floor was the mass of objects he suspected the person had been hiding behind when Crow had initially entered the room. But there was nothing.

That was strange. There really weren't a lot of other hiding places in here. Could that possibly mean….

"You know, I'd appreciate if you stopped _going through my possessions_."

Crow leapt into the air. Yet again.

When he turned around, though, he was both relieved and annoyed that the speaker was, of course, just the guy he'd been looking for, standing in the entryway – apparently he'd just returned. This quickly turned into mild concern when Crow noticed that the man, though apparently feeling well enough to walk around, still wasn't too steady on his feet.

"Hey, you shouldn't be up yet", Crow informed him. "Look at you. You're swaying. Where have you been? Don't go get yourself killed now, or I'll have cleaned up your puke for nothing."

The man responded by striding over and dropping himself into a chair. For one perilous second, Crow was convinced that this guy really had done something to strain himself, and now his charity would have been wasted…. But the stranger merely opened a dark blue eye and stared apathetically at him. Crow was about to voice his discomfort when something was thrown at him. It was a slightly mangled chicken wing.

"I can't eat that, so you can have it", the man informed the ceiling.

"Oh, er…", Crow stuttered a bit, and sat down on a couch. He felt that he'd been caught off guard. "Thanks."

Satisfied by this response, the man pulled out a few grapes, a canteen of water, and what seemed to be lettuce leaves. He then reached over the table, took a knife, and began helping himself to a little more of Crow's apple.

At this, Crow felt _scandalized_. "Hey, who said you could have the rest of that?"

The stranger made a vaguely indifferent noise and continued what he was doing.

He also noticed an ant on the table, and proceeded to eat it.

Crow decided that this wasn't really worth protesting any further. Clearing his throat a bit, he asked, "So, when're you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

"Y'know…why I saved you, all that crap."

The guy stopped cutting. "What is there to ask?" he said listlessly. "You saved my life, for some reason or other, but you did. There's not much else to know."

Crow was rather taken aback by this aloof response. "…Oookay, then where've you been? Seriously, if you go running around like that when you're not okay yet, you'll end up half-dead again."

"I've lived through worse", was the reply. (Somehow, Crow doubted it.) "I was getting food."

"Eh? How?" If this guy had gone hunting in his condition, Crow would have to conclude him suicidal.

Thankfully, he hadn't, or he didn't say he had. "With this", the man replied, and gestured at the pistol he'd set on the floor beside him. "And no, I didn't kill anyone", he added quickly upon seeing Crow's horrified expression. "I…only threatened them."

Crow involuntarily conjured an image of this guy advancing slowly upon a small cluster of people, teetering in gait, skeletal in figure, savage hunger seeping from psychotically bloodshot eyes, pistol cocked and focused upon their foreheads, just waiting for a potential cue to let Death loose upon them….

Yeesh. Crow shuddered. Whoever the poor victims were, he couldn't blame them for having given in.

But he reined in his imagination. "Soooo", Crow nodded, "you live here alone?"

The man looked at him, as if to ask, "What sort of question is that?" But he merely said, "Yes."

"Really?" Crow raised an eyebrow. "What about your friends and family?"

The instant he said it, Crow realized that it was another stupid question. "Dead", the man answered.

"Oh…I'm sorry." He paused. "Wait, so that's why this place is so big! You weren't always here alone."

"Yes, that's why."

There were a few moments of silence.

"OH-KAY then!" It was then the stranger's turn to be startled as Crow practically vaulted out of his seat. "In that case, I think I'll stay here!"

"I…I…", the man started, "I…_what_."

"Speak up!", Crow directed loudly, suddenly energetic enough to possibly run up a wall. Man, he was _fired up_, and to say that it'd been a long while since the last time he'd felt this roused was pure understatement. "_I can't hear you_!"

"Where the hell", the stranger began, looking ready to choke on something in his great consternation, "did you get the idea that you're going to stay here?"

"Well, why not?"

"Look", the man pointed out, "I can't deny that I owe you. But to just decide that you're going to LIVE here…."

Crow stopped prancing around for a minute and grinned at the guy, fists on his hips. "As I said: why not? Getting food every day would be easier if we work together. And you need someone to keep an eye on you so you don't slip back into, y'know, _half-dead-ness_. It'd take me hours to get back home from here, anyway. I don't mind leaving it behind; it's not like I forgot anything important there. Besides, I could use the company." He shrugged. "Wouldn't you?"

The man seemed to struggle with his options for a while, before finally deciding that the practicality of it was worth putting up with an obnoxious neighbor. Probably.

"Fine", he grunted, if a bit reluctantly. "You have a deal."

Crow's eyes lit up. "Great!" he declared, and sauntered over to his new roomie. He thrust out a hand, which seemed to astonish the man. "So, now that we're friends, then." The man gave a brief sound of protest at this sentence, but Crow ignored him. "My name's Crow. Crow Hogan. Remember it! And what about you?"

The man hesitated visibly, but relented and shook the hand. "Yusei", he stated. "Yusei Fudo."

Crow nodded enthusiastically. "Okay then, Yusei", he replied, unable to keep himself from breaking into a wide smile. "Here's to a new partnership…and maybe, just maybe, a new future!"

Again, there was silence.

"…You're being way too dramatic about this, you know."


	2. I'll carry it myself

_The following is a story of one man who has yet to realize the scope of his destiny._

* * *

Against all odds, Yusei made a startlingly fast recovery from his malnutrition. Within two weeks, he was fit enough to accompany Crow in gathering food. (Yusei also seemed to be disturbingly unperturbed by the possibility of someone raiding the hideout while they were gone. It bothered Crow a little, but he went along with it.)

In fact, Yusei also proved to be one of the strangest people Crow had ever met. Though surprisingly attentive when Crow mentioned being hungry, thirsty, or cold, he was almost completely uninterested in chitchat, and indifferent to Crow's opinion unless it threatened either's health.

If he had to phrase it simply…Yusei was pragmatic and observant, sure. He just needed to work on his empathy.

And Crow was just contemplating this when he vaguely registered the words, "Look out!" – he barely had time to duck when something slammed into his back, and then it was upon him.

He struggled wildly, thrashing, aiming blows at its fanged, snarling face and rolling eyes, trying to fend off its assault – its nails dug repeatedly into his arm, and he rolled over in his attempt to shake it off – it hit the ground on its side, which seemed to leave it briefly disoriented – Crow took advantage of this, and tried to get on top of it – but its snapping yellow jaws lunged forward, barely missing his neck – he yelped in alarm –

"Crow!" Yusei bellowed, sounding unusually loud – the very air seemed to amplify his voice, and the urgency in it – "Hold it still! Pin down its head!" – and Crow obeyed. Slamming a knee down on its leg, he seized it by the throat, and –

BANG.

Crow froze. Blood splattered upon his arms. His attacker went limp.

A grim-faced Yusei lowered the still-smoking pistol and stowed it away. So, he hadn't been bluffing after all.

"You…", Crow stuttered weakly, quivering and shaken, "…you're good. I mean, that shot was…."

"I've had to be, in the past", Yusei replied seriously. "Are you hurt? Can you stand?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I can get up. Gonna have a few bruises tomorrow, though." Crow tried not to look at the body while he got to his feet. Yusei stepped forward in case he was needed, but Crow was quickly able to steady himself. Once he did, though, a wave of nausea overcame him, and he was promptly sick next to the body. Yusei waited until he was finished.

_And now we've both watched each other vomit_, Crow thought, annoyance mingled with slight embarrassment. "Sorry you had to see that", he told Yusei.

"I've seen worse", Yusei responded flatly. (By now, Crow was beginning to grow accustomed to his apathetically glib responses and lack of elucidation…but it was still a bit irritating.) "Headshots aren't pretty, in any case. I don't blame you."

…Which Crow considered an understatement, because an animal's head had basically just exploded in his face, but he didn't say this.

Instead, he gestured towards the corpse. "So…a dog, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think we can eat it? If it'd be safe to, I mean."

Yusei paused and gave him a thoughtful look. "Well, I can check", he said, "but you ought to turn around." He began to change his gloves for plastic white ones, which struck Crow as odd.

"Eh? Why do I need to t- _aughhh_!" Crow yelled as Yusei withdrew a knife, crouched and slit open the dog's stomach in one swift motion. He turned around immediately. "Gawd, that's disgusting!"

"In any case", Yusei observed, ignoring that comment, "it doesn't seem to be in bad condition. I'm not seeing any major infections." Hearing Crow's silence, he added, "I didn't expect you to be so squeamish."

"W-well, I'm a thief, not a hunter", Crow countered. "I snatch my food from villagers. I've never had to gut anything larger than a trout in my life."

"…Be glad of that."

"Come again?"

"Nothing." Yusei stood up. "We're in luck. This could last us for quite a while. Let's take it back."

Crow was utterly repulsed by this suggestion, and immediately conveyed his opinion with a great flailing of the arms. "What, with _its guts falling out_ the entire way there and everything?" he questioned, acting strongly offended.

"I didn't cut that wide", Yusei answered. "It should be fine." Crow's expression told Yusei that he was not yet convinced. "You can walk in front so you won't have to look at it, alright?"

"But…_I'll still be touching it_."

This sentence was delivered with all the (melo)dramatic intonation of a truly horrific revelation. Yusei could not believe he was having this conversation. "There is absolutely no difference between this dog and the raw meat you would pick up from a villager, Crow."

"Yes, there is. I mean…what if it has rabies?"

He could _not_ have picked a more stereotypical disease. "No, it doesn't."

"And how do you know?"

"Well, I could show y-"

"_Hell_ no!"

"All right, fine!" Yusei growled. "I'll carry it myself." With this, he seized the dog by its back legs and slowly began to drag it away. The gash in its stomach lurched dangerously and spat blood into the dirt, but it held, just as he had assured. All the organs remained securely inside.

Crow was considerably taken aback by this, and took a moment of sheepish hesitation before following.

It only took two minutes.

"Hey, um…Yusei."

"Yeah?"

"D'you…need any help with that?"

Yusei gave an ambiguous grunt that implied neither encouragement nor rejection.

Crow thought about it for around ten more seconds before picking up the corpse's front legs and falling in step with Yusei's stride.

And Yusei smirked. Just a little.

* * *

They dropped by a small reservoir and restocked on water before returning to their place. Yusei removed and washed the dog's organs. Crow mustered the courage to shear the flesh from the fat, seeing as Yusei still couldn't eat that yet (but only after Yusei had cleaned them first). As a sort of celebration of having fended off and killed a dog, they even agreed to make soup for the occasion.

Crow had found some pieces of flint and was about to strike up a fire – when a resounding boom abruptly shook the earth.

Almost immediately, the ground heaved violently from under them. Tables rattled and seats crashed loudly onto the floor. Yusei made a dive to save the dog organs, but Crow was hit in the side of the head by one of Yusei's smaller machines and the flint promptly flew out of his grip.

The shockwave was over almost as suddenly as it had begun, but the reverberating sound of rock repeatedly colliding into rock could still be heard, like a distant avalanche. Then all was silent.

Crow shot from the room like a bullet. Upon seeing this, Yusei replaced the dog organs and quickly followed suit.

It took several minutes to catch up to him. "I think it came from that direction", Crow wasted no time in gesturing. Yusei looked, and groaned inwardly. It was one of the passages to the underground reservoir from which they obtained their water.

* * *

"What do you think that impact was?" Crow asked a bit nervously as they walked. (Yusei had discouraged sprinting, in fear that it could potentially trigger some sort of aftershock.)

Yusei shrugged vaguely in reply. "We'll find out." In reality, he actually felt that he had a pretty good idea of what it was, and had half a mind to turn back and mind his own business in case he would be proven right.

But Crow seemed positively set on it. And there was almost no stopping Crow. (Secretly, he wondered if this was a good thing.)

Then the pair turned a corner, and Crow's jaw met the floor.

Yusei also found himself gaping. "Wh…what happened here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine", Crow muttered. The tunnel seemed to have, suddenly and inexplicably, collapsed in on itself, with no visible trigger whatsoever. What stood before them was nothing less than a veritable wall of fallen rock. The ceiling had caved, the path rendered impassable, all within five minutes. And without an explanation in sight.

Or, this was what they thought at first. "Look! What's that?" Yusei pointed.

"What's _what_, Yusei?"

"That. The white thing, right there."

"White thing?" Crow moved closer to Yusei and scanned the mass of stone, squinting in the darkness. "I don't see anything wh…." He trailed off, and went shock still. "Is…is…_is that someone's arm_?"


	3. Don't tell me how to react

_The following is a story of one man who has yet to discover the scope of his destiny._

* * *

"I just don't understand why they were in that rubble, and more importantly, how they're still alive."

"Yes, you mentioned that on the way over", Yusei commented tiredly, rubbing his temple as he patiently stoked the fire. The water in the pot suspended above it began to hiss and bubble, so he dropped one of the dog's kidneys into it, along with a few slices of onion. (Crow opened his mouth to object loudly, but wisely opted for an indignant grunt instead.) "And I still don't see why we couldn't have robbed them and left."

"Um, because saving them was _the right thing to do_", Crow answered. "Besides, they're obviously villagers. If we help them…and they're particularly grateful…."

"They might not be", Yusei pointed out. "What if we keep them here, attend to their wounds, give them our hard-earned food, but at the end of it, what if they don't appreciate _a single second of it_?"

"What?" Crow looked up. "Yusei, people aren't like tha-",

"Or, what if it all ends up being for nothing, and they die? Then we'll be at risk, too, because we shared our rations with a couple of obviously well-fed villagers instead o-",

"Yusei!" By now, Crow had stood up. "What's _up_ with you? Stop being such a pessimist!"

"I'm not being pessimistic", Yusei spoke in a low tone, almost like a growl, and avoided eye contact. "I'm being realistic."

"Realistic, my ass. You expect us to die? I'm insulted."

Both Crow and Yusei swiveled at the same time. Out of the two people they'd dragged back from the collapsed tunnel, one had sat up in his sleeping bag. He glared indignantly at them now, searing violet eyes amidst pale, chiseled features. His white clothes appeared slightly luminous under the trembling lightbulbs.

Crow stared, immediately silenced despite not having been addressed. Yusei, predictably, was less impressed. "I don't recommend that you sit up quite yet", he advised their guest, poking at the flames before him. "You took considerable bruising along the spine." The man instantly lied back down.

"My name is Jack Atlas", he announced loudly, even though no one had asked.

"Yusei Fudo."

"C-Crow Hogan."

Jack paused, as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction. Yusei gave him none. Crow seemed like he was trying to work something out in his head.

"…Well?" Jack finally said.

"What do you want?" Yusei deadpanned.

This seemed to offend Jack for some reason, and he was silent again.

"…So, anyway", Crow began, desperate to end the awkward silence, "why did we find you two in that caved-in tunnel, anyway?"

Yusei added the dog intestines to the pot.

Jack caught sight of them and recoiled in horror. "Don't tell me we're going to eat _that_?" he wheezed in his intense disgust.

_Great_, Crow thought to himself. _I've_ _been ignored in favor of dog guts._

"Seeing as I've been preparing it for the last while now…no, _of course_ we're not going to eat it, I'm just cooking it for _fun_. What in the world would make you think otherwise?" Yusei shot back.

Jack leered in wary repulsion at the mass of floating organs in the pot. "I'm not eating it", he declared.

"Suit yourself then, if you want to turn up your nose at some perfectly fine dog meat", Yusei shrugged. "I hope not all villagers are as picky as you, or they might die out soon." Crow got the tiniest impression that Yusei was rather enjoying the poor man's great displeasure.

"You're not bothered in the least by eating that?" Jack turned to Crow.

Crow hesitated, then shook his head, if somewhat bashfully. Upon seeing Jack's shock, he added quickly, "Well, that's easy for you to say. You're not the one it jumped on!"

"You were attacked by that large a dog?" another voice asked mildly. Jack's companion had sat up. This one was shorter than Jack, and looked a bit frailer. As he moved, he winced and glanced at his leg.

Crow puffed out his chest a bit. "Yup", he answered, displaying the cuts and bruises on his arms. "It ambushed me from behind!" He paused. "But, Yusei was the one who killed it. One shot to the head – _bam_!"

"What? I don't believe that", Jack put in. "Your friend here managed to hit a dog's head, _while_ you were wrestling with it? It seems likelier to me that he would've hit _you_ instead."

Crow scratched his head. "Well…believe it or don't, but if he hadn't killed that dog, I wouldn't be here now. So, yeah." He nodded to himself.

They were all quiet for a moment. Jack still appeared to be struggling with the idea of anyone being that good of a shot. Yusei seemed uncomfortable about being the center of attention, and wordlessly began to fill up small bowls with the soup.

"Oh, yes, I haven't introduced myself", the other villager realized. "The name's Kyosuke Kiryu. I assume Jack has already made himself familiar with you all?"

"Quite loudly, yes", Yusei confirmed.

"Ahh", Kiryu chuckled apologetically, but said no more. Yusei began to pass the bowls of soup around, specifically naming which was meant for whom, and Kiryu accepted his own quite graciously. But on the other hand ….

"Just _take_ it", Crow nearly shouted in his exasperation, a bowl in his outstretched hand.

"I will not", Jack stated firmly. Sometime during the brief conversation with Kiryu, he'd managed to prop himself up against the wall with a handful of pillows. He seemed very determined, and would not even look directly at the soup.

"There is absolutely no reason for you to be so stubbor-!"

"Hey, this is pretty good!" Kiryu exclaimed with perfect timing. Jack sent a brief glare in his direction, quavering subtly in irritation. This time, Crow actually caught the minute smirk on Yusei's face.

"Really?" Crow noted. When Kiryu nodded enthusiastically, he set down Jack's bowl and picked up the chopsticks Yusei had provided. "Yeah, you're right! This ain't bad, Yusei. Good job." He grinned. "Could use some salt, though."

"Oh, I have some salt with me", Kiryu volunteered, and dug out a damaged, but still useable salt shaker, and began passing it around to Crow and Yusei, the former of whom seemed delighted.

"Thanks, er, Kyosuke?" Crow asked.

"Kiryu's fine."

Jack stared at the shaker as if it had single-handedly lynched his family. …Somehow. "Why", he began, "are you carrying _salt_ with you?"

"I bought it the other day and forgot to take it out of my pocket", Kiryu answered sheepishly.

Yusei finished use of the salt, so Crow took it from him and was about to pass it back to Kiryu when he paused. "Y'know", he informed Jack, if a bit demonically, "you should just stop wasting all of our time and take the soup already. We all know you're going to, so you might as well stop pretending otherwise."

This appeared to have caught Jack off guard, because he bristled with annoyance, but said nothing.

Crow cheerfully sprinkled what he considered a fair amount of salt into Jack's soup and returned the shaker to Kiryu.

Jack kept silent.

* * *

No one saw Jack eat the soup, but when Crow was collecting the finished soup bowls for Yusei, all four were clean.

* * *

"So, why were you guys buried in that tunnel?" Crow asked.

Kiryu blinked, and looked up from his folded hands. "Er, we happened to be passing through, when it collapsed on us", he replied quickly.

"Impossible", Yusei interjected. He seemed to be fiddling around with one of the machines on the table, and had donned a pair of large, red-framed goggles. "If that were the case, you would've been at the very bottom of the wreck. We wouldn't have even seen you, much less been able to dig you out."

"Just tell them the truth, Kiryu", Jack spoke up suddenly. "I don't understand what you're so worried about."

Kiryu delivered an odd sort of smile. It looked strained. "Right", he said. "I…just don't know if they'll believe us."

"You don't know until you try", Crow pointed out.

Kiryu bit his lip. "Alright then", he gave in resignedly, "I suppose that's the least we owe you for having saved our lives." He contemplated this. "But, where to begin…?"

"Begin at the beginning, and reach the end", Yusei barbed.

"Yusei…." Crow warned.

"No, it's fine", Kiryu reassured. "The thing is, we involuntarily collapsed the tunnel. We crashed into it." He hesitated visibly. "From above. From…the surface."

"The surface?" Yusei glanced up from what he was doing, nearly dropping one of his tools. His eyes had gone uncharacteristically wide. It was jarring to see him this shaken all of a sudden. "You went to the surface?"

"More than that", Jack declared, "we were fighting the Earthbound Gods."

"_What_?" Yusei's tools clattered to the floor before Crow had time to react. He was staring Jack straight in the eye. "What the _hell_ were you doing that for?"

Crow wasn't sure which alarmed him more, Yusei's abrupt display of emotion or the fact that two people had gone to the surface, fought the Earthbound Gods, and _lived_. In any case, Jack straightened his jacket and replied, "Isn't it obvious why? Those things oppress and terrorize our people! Your people, too! All of humanity! Honestly, that sort of reaction…. You ought to be glad anyone's standing up to them at all."

"Don't tell me how to react", Yusei hissed. "And you two…are idiots. For _fuck's sake_, they're _gods_. You may have survived this time, but you won't last long if you keep this up. Who ever heard of fighting _gods_? They were able to banish humanity for a _reason_, you know. I don't even know how the two of you are still alive."

Kiryu interceded with an unexpected smile. "I appreciate the…concern", he told Yusei, "but you're making one very large misconception here."

"What is it?"

It was Jack's turn to smirk. "That both of us fought the gods as just simple humans."

Yusei stared. Crow decided to cut in. "Wait, whoa, _what_?"

"Jack here is no ordinary human", Kiryu explained. "He is one of the great and lucky individuals chosen by our god, the Crimson Dragon, when it was sealed away ten years ago. He is a Signer."

"Wh…what does that mean?" Crow stuttered. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"It means", Kiryu continued, "that he can turn into a dragon."

The silence lasted for about three seconds.

"A…A _DRAGON_?" Crow gaped.

"Ah, I know it sounds kind of far-fetched, but –"

"A…are you kidding?" Crow almost hoped he was.

"No. I'm not." Kiryu set his gaze upon the floor. He seemed vaguely embarrassed. "But…it's also why we're here. If Jack hadn't been a dragon at the time, and he hadn't shielded me when we fell…. I wouldn't be alive right now."

True, it would provide a logical explanation for how they'd escaped with no fatal injuries, but Crow still wasn't sure what to think. "Then…if you aren't a Signer, what were you doing accompanying him?"

"Even the mightiest of beasts could use support", Kiryu reasoned. "Besides…you shouldn't underestimate me with a knife."

"So, now you know what happened to us and why", Jack interrupted with a firm nod. "Now, if you don't mind-",

"Oh! Wait!" Crow had just thought of something. "So, Mr. Signer, if your friend here says you can turn into a dragon…how about you prove it?"

"He can't, right now", Kiryu informed.

"Yeah? Why not?" Crow challenged.

"Because I'm wounded, you dolt", Jack answered haughtily. "I can't just transform whenever I please, you know. I need to regain my energy. And besides, even if I could right now, I wouldn't do it just for your frivolous doubt. Being a limited power, I reserve it only for dire situations."

Crow watched him warily. "…Sounds pretty fishy to me."

"It's none of our business anyway, Crow." Yusei had slipped back into his usual apathy once again. "In any case…what was it you were saying, Atlas?"

"About the two of us leaving."

"Oh, yes! About that", Kiryu instantly picked up the topic. "Would it be too much if we asked you to escort us to our village? Don't worry, we know the way there. We've gotten lost near here before."

"What?" Jack turned on Kiryu. "Why do we need their help? We can make it back fine by ourselves."

Kiryu smiled grimly. "Maybe you can", he replied, "but I can't. Not with this leg."

"What's wrong with your leg?" Jack demanded.

"Um, it's broken, just like your arm", Crow told him. "You didn't notice? What sort of a friend are you?"

Jack ignored him perfectly. "I could support you", he said to Kiryu.

But the man shook his head. "No, too inconvenient", he declined. "You'd tire out, and fast. And what if we were attacked by bandits? I'd only drag you down. No, there's safety in numbers. For the both of us", he added firmly, seeing Jack preparing to protest. He then addressed Crow. "So…how about it?"

"I...I guess", Crow said, "but I think Yusei needs a say in this, too."

"There's plenty of food at the village", Kiryu offered.

"_Hell yes_!" Crow yelled. "Er, I mean…." He glanced at Yusei.

Luckily, however, there was nothing to worry about. "We accept", Yusei agreed, and Crow was secretly glad that Yusei would never let his antisocial temperament override his rational nature.

"That's settled, then", Kiryu finished, obviously just as relieved as Crow, if not more. "Then, we should first all resolve to get a good rest today. We leave for the village first thing tomorrow. Is that fine with everyone?" They all concurred.

Crow rolled out the sleeping bags, Yusei flicked off the lights, and all four men were soon fast asleep.

Except Jack, who was recalling to himself how the dog meat in his soup had been patiently and carefully sliced into small pieces so as to appear less disgusting.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Writing character interactions in a fanfiction is like drawing: it's ridiculously fun, but you never know whether or not you're doing it right. And Kiryu is particularly thin ice since one sees so little of him before he goes batshit insane.

Don't you love how I waited until the third chapter to voice my thoughts on this? I know you do.

Thanks in advance to reviewers. owo


	4. There's no sane reason

_The following is a story of one man who has yet to realize the scope of his destiny._

* * *

Kiryu was the first to get up, but he waited until someone else had also awoken before rousing the others. It was estimated that the journey would take about a day and a half, so he put himself in charge of packing food and gave Crow and Jack simple tasks they couldn't possibly mess up. Yusei volunteered to take an alternate route down to the reservoir and collect enough water for all four people. Crow initially objected to Yusei going alone, but as Yusei was bringing his gun and it was only a short trip anyway, they let him go.

The alternate route was rather long and winding. Yusei adopted a brisk yet quiet gait, listening intently as he walked. There was always the possibility that the surrounding area had been rendered unstable from the collapse of the tunnel, so he didn't want to be caught off guard if it proved too weak and caved in.

Regardless, he made good time in reaching the reservoir. Yusei had just knelt down to fill the canteens when he froze. He straightened and scanned the surrounding area, straining his ears for any hint, any noise….

"You can come on out", he announced, the looming walls throwing his voice around the lonely cave and causing it to reverberate throughout. Yusei made an effort to keep his tone as nonthreatening as possible. No sense in provoking what might not necessarily be a foe, after all. However, he kept one hand on the pocket that held his pistol.

Of all that could've emerged next, however, he definitely had not been expecting what did. Heralded by the alien sound of heels clacking on the limestone, a human figure approached shyly from behind a large rock. It was a woman.

"Ah, sorry if I surprised you", she apologized. Yusei immediately pegged her as a villager. Her skin, and face were clean, and her hair devoid of obvious tangles. Her clothes were moderately elegant, and didn't appear to be very tattered. The only unusual part was in how she cautiously watched his every move with catlike, almost luminous eyes. Then again, he reasoned, it was perfectly normal for a villager to be wary of an outcast. "I…dropped something near here, and I was looking for it when I heard you coming. I wasn't certain if you were an enemy or not, so I hid."

"Completely understandable", he reassured, though impassively. "What did you lose?"

"Er, well…it's a little hard to say", she debated. "But it's white and rather large, all things considered, so…."

Yusei raised an eyebrow. "That…sounds like it would be very easy to find."

"Yes, I realize", she agreed. "So it's quite annoying that I still can't find it yet." She paused. "In fact, I'm not even sure how I dropped it. Surely I would have noticed it…unless…."

"You…don't think it was stolen, do you?"

"I hope not!" She stared at him. "But I'm hoping it's somewhere around here. It would be _such_ a hassle if someone had taken it…not to mention the cleanup…."

"Pardon?"

"Oh, nothing." The girl shook her head. "Just, if you see anything like what I described, please tell me. In the meantime, I'll just be searching along here." She began to make her way along the edge of the reservoir. "What's your name, by the way?" After a moment of hesitation, Yusei told her. "Ah", she nodded. "One of my names is 'Aki'."

"_One of" her names? _But Yusei didn't question it, instead busying himself with filling up the second canteen.

"…Yusei?" Aki spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what a rose is?"

He glanced at her. "It's a thorny flower that grows on the surface, usually red or pink. Why?"

Aki seemed to be fingering the edge of her sleeve. "Do you think…that roses are worth picking, despite the thorns?"

Her questions were growing stranger and stranger. But…no harm in answering them, he supposed. "It depends. If picking the rose is important enough to a person, I'm sure they'd risk being pricked by the thorns."

"Then…Yusei, would you pick a rose?"

He paused. "No. I wouldn't."

Yusei wasn't sure, but she appeared to frown visibly at his answer. "Yes, I supposed you wouldn't", she remarked, a tinge of bitterness in her voice. She looked up quickly. "But", she continued, "well, then I think I admire the person who _would_."

Yusei didn't respond to this, and instead looked away. Once he had, however, the faint glimmer caught his eye.

"Aki", he stood, alert, "there's something over there…!"

She whirled around. "Do you think…?"

"It looks white", he confirmed.

She leapt carefully down from the small ledge she'd wandered onto, the combination of her impatience and her two-inch heels nearly causing her to stumble, but she quickly regained balance. "Where is it?" she asked of him.

"Around there, across the water", he directed. "I'm not quite sure it's what you're looking for, tho-",

"It's fine. Let's check it out." With that said, Aki began to follow him around the reservoir's banks. She appeared to be skeptical at first, but as they drew closer and closer to the object, her expression slowly started to lighten. Finally, she nearly shouted in relief, "Yes! That's it!"

"This is what you lost?" Yusei said, regarding the object with a dubious wariness. It was a sleek white mask, with a small circle on the forehead and slashes through the eyes. A thin white film was spread over the eyeholes, presumably so that the wearer's eyes would be impossible to see, though Yusei couldn't understand why anyone would make such an addition. Its pale, metallic sheen contrasted violently with the gritty stone that surrounded it.

Not to mention…the fact that it was underwater.

No wonder Aki had failed to notice it.

Well, here went nothing. "I'll get it", he grunted, removing his glove and rolling up his sleeve. The mask's face stared hatefully up at him with eyes it did not have. Aki began a rather half-hearted protest, but in another instant he'd already plunged his hand into the water.

…And promptly regretted it. Later that day, Yusei would be able to come up with some plausible reasons for why the temperature would vary in different areas of the reservoir, but for now all that concerned him was the realization that the water here was _ridiculously freezing_.

_If there were some kind of tiny archer under the water_, Yusei immediately thought, _and he was repeatedly firing ice-tipped arrows into my fingers, it wouldn't feel too different from THIS_. And though the very idea made him want to cringe, he instead gritted his teeth and pushed his arm farther underwater – clutching at the rocky bottom, straining as he reached for the edge of the mask. _It's too deep!_, he realized. _I won't make it!_ Yet, just as he told himself this, the mask almost seemed to lift itself up, just a little bit…! He seized it without hesitation and gratefully withdrew his arm.

Once it'd been handed to Aki, though, she paused. For a moment, both stood motionless, him with his arm dripping languidly and her with the mask in her hands, gazing intently at it.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Seeing as he could've just killed half of the nerves in his arm just trying to retrieve the damned thing, Yusei hoped not.

"No…well", she hesitated, "I…was just contemplating. Even though this mask is mine, it's…how would I describe it? Lately, I've been feeling that, whenever I put it on, I become a different person." She began to pick up more and more speed as she spoke. "A stronger person. And yet, very different from myself. I…A part of me would like to become that person, and yet a partofme is afraidofgettingintoodeep, and losingtherestofmyself. _Doesthatmakesense_?" The last few phrases were released in a single, rushed breath, and as soon as Aki had finished talking she clapped a hand over her own mouth, as if having uttered something forbidden.

"I…I'm sorry", she told Yusei. "I shouldn't have said all that just now."

He was taken aback by this last notion. "What're you talking about?" he objected. "If you don't want to wear the mask, then there's no sane reason to force yourse – ",

Yusei wasn't even able to finish talking when Aki swiftly lowered her face and roughly shoved the mask onto it.

Instantly, her shoulders relaxed, but her fingers stiffened. It wasn't difficult to imagine them curling themselves into fists, or even claws. When she looked back at him, her voice had taken on a cold flat, tone.

"I thank you for helping me recover this mask", she informed him curtly, then promptly turned on her heel and left. Now, there was a difference in the way she carried herself – not shyly, or with the utmost caution as before, but with a sweeping, more arrogant sort of grace. In almost no time, she had left his field of vision.

Yusei had no idea what to make of this.

* * *

He met the others at the entrance to the reservoir. Crow in particular looked as if he'd just run the whole way there. (Which, come to think of it, he probably had.) The other two lagged behind him.

The minute he spotted Yusei, he aimed for the collar, but Yusei saw this coming and stepped aside. So Crow resorted to pointing accusingly at him instead. "What took you so long?" he demanded.

"I was briefly caught up in something", Yusei replied flatly.

"You call that brief?" Jack snorted. "That was fifteen minutes at the _least_. How long does it take to waltz down to a lake and fill a few containers, anyway? _I_ should've been the one who went."

_Then I would have to feel sorry for Aki_, Yusei remarked mentally, and barely suppressed a smirk at this.

"Yeah, Yusei, what exactly were you doing?" Crow agreed for once, looking concerned.

Why the hell was the answer so important? Yusei felt severely tempted to inform them that he'd been off shooting random passersby or something. "Helping to find a dropped object. Are you happy?"

"Yeah, that's a lot better", Crow began, then halted as realization struck. "Wait, so that means…Yusei, you were taking your time because you were _helping_ someone?" Yusei nodded grudgingly, and Crow recoiled. "Whoa! That's great, Yusei!" he cried, attempting to slap the man on the back, only to have Yusei dodge again. "I didn't know you had it in ya!"

"Yes, I completely understand your surprise", Yusei responded. "After all, I'm obviously a cruel and heartless demon (who eats lightly salted children) and would never assist another human being, even if it killed me. Right, Crow?"

"…Fine, I take it back."

Yusei took a moment to enjoy the dismay in Crow's tone.

* * *

The journey wasn't quite as eventful as expected. Yusei, Jack, and Crow all took separate turns assisting Kiryu. In the beginning, it was a tedious pain in the neck, and involved much stumbling. Kiryu found himself constantly apologizing for how greatly he was slowing down the group, but soon enough, figured out his center of balance, and things gradually improved from there on.

At one point, they were actually surrounded by a motley crew of bandits – but they were a ragged, uncooperative pack of teenagers, barely sixteen at the eldest, that appeared set on constantly disagreeing with one another, even as they attempted to corner Yusei's group. True to his previous boast, it took only a couple of well-aimed knife throws on Kiryu's part to frighten them into scattering.

When the four men started to feel that they'd traveled enough for the day, they stopped close to a small grotto and near-unanimously agreed to set up camp there. (Jack objected, claiming that they were "behind schedule" as it was, but found his opinion firmly outnumbered.)

It seemed that Kiryu had traveled before, since he'd had the foresight to actually pack firewood for the trip. Glad to have been spared the agonizing chore of gathering it instead (seeing as wood wasn't exactly the easiest thing to seek out while underground), the quartet laid out the sleeping bags and proceeded to huddle quietly around the flames. Yusei brought up that they ought to sleep in shifts, and Kiryu promptly volunteered for the first shift. (Perhaps it was due to the fact that he'd basically spent most of the day being a load, but Kiryu appeared particularly eager to make himself useful.)

When they woke up the next day, it was with renewed energy that they continued on the road. Kiryu was able to keep up a surprisingly good pace, and in only a few hours, the trail suddenly opened wide into a gaping clearing.

Crow had caught the scent of a goal close at hand, and began to quiver in excitement. "It's there, isn't it!" he demanded, identifying a gradually emerging silhouette. "That's the village, am I right?"

There was something immensely proud about the way that Jack split into a wide smile, the first genuine one either Crow or Yusei had seen. "That's it, all right!" he was only too glad to confirm.

As they drew closer to the village, however, Yusei made regular attempts to blink and refocus his eyes. The shape they were approaching didn't resemble a village at all…. Instead, it seemed to be a tall, enormous dome partially inset into the wall.

Kiryu grinned, not seeming to notice anything out of place. "Imagine how shocked they'll be when they see we're still alive, eh?"

"You said it", Jack agreed, just as bafflingly at ease. And indeed, the moment they neared the village, there were people outside who dropped what they were doing to stare in disbelief, or perhaps ran into the dome to fetch a spouse or elder sibling. Crow waved furiously at them in greeting. (They took in the condition of his clothes and recoiled. One, who looked about four or five, turned and ran.)

Yusei's confusion regarding the village's appearance was cleared up the moment they entered it.

It wasn't so much a town as it was a huge concrete building with rooms and stairs built into meter-thick walls. He mentally scolded himself for expecting anything even remotely similar to a town on the surface or something, and lurked behind the others, trying not to attract too much attention. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but…the last time he'd been around so many people was probably around ten years ago. He felt like some sort of alien.

"I wonder where the chief is", Kiryu questioned aloud. A small gathering of children began to form a semicircle around them, and he ruffled one's hair.

"There he is", Jack pointed, and Yusei glanced up. Sure enough, a tall man was coming their way, though Yusei didn't really need to be told to recognize that it was the man in charge.

After all, how many people in this day and age still owned, much less wore tuxedos?

"Welcome to our village", the man proclaimed grandly, addressing Crow and Yusei with a spreading of the arms. "I thank you for helping bring back to us our heroes, Jack and Kiryu. I am the chief here, and my name is Rex Godwin. Please, feel free to make yourself at home."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'll be in Europe with bad Internet over winter break, so the next chapter won't be up for a while. However, I've finished setting up! Next time is when the plot truly gets rolling.

Please look forward to it~!


	5. I don't see how a dragon's better

_This is still a tale about a man who defies fate._

* * *

Somehow, Godwin was able to produce or discover lodgings for Yusei and Crow in almost no time at all. The two were encouraged to stay in the village for a while, seeing as they had just escorted back the village heroes, an offer which they both accepted.

Yusei promptly took a nap while Crow explored the village, making small talk with the inhabitants as he went, and found what he learned to be fascinating. Though they had electricity hooked up throughout, it required labor to maintain, and even then they did their best to use as little energy as possible. They hunted regularly, and grew what crops they could despite the lack of sunlight (mostly corn).

He also found out that it had also been a long-time tradition of theirs to occasionally send particularly fast people up to the surface to hunt and gather the far-more-plentiful resources above, evading the Earthbound Gods as best they could. Though it meant another brave member was lost every few months, it was difficult to properly sustain the village otherwise. Rex Godwin's elder brother, Rudger, had been the first of these "Surface-Envoys" (a rather un-catchy name if you asked Crow, but he went with it), and though his "disappearance" had devastated the man, he continued to allow people to follow in Rudger's footsteps, knowing it was a near-necessity.

The current Envoy was, naturally, Kiryu, who had held this position for two consecutive years. Though not quite the record-holder yet, he was fast approaching that title.

Apparently, just like most people in the village, Kiryu was an orphan, having lost his parents ten years ago when the Earthbound Gods took over. Despite being rather jumpy, even as a child he'd been a born leader – alert, practical, optimistic, even possessed of an aggressive streak. And when it came to throwing, he'd had the aim of a demon. In addition, he would constantly insist that everyone call him by his family name. When asked why, he simply answered that he "never wanted to forget".

Several years later, a scrawny kid around Kiryu's age literally crawled into the village. According to what he'd babbled out deliriously before collapsing, his name was Jack Atlas, and he had come from a village several miles away after its utter annihilation by Earthbounds, and fled here all by himself. As this story impressed pretty much everyone who believed it, all the children looked forward immensely to when their newly-appointed idol regained consciousness.

As it turned out, however, even after recovering he'd wanted nothing to do with any of them, and would lurk moodily in small corners, haughtily avoiding them. After a while, most of them had realized that he considered himself too superior for the likes of them, and gave up on ever befriending him.

But stubborn Kiryu had not been one of them. Despite the advice of everyone else, he would not let something like Jack's attitude stop him. And so he persistently continued trying to strike up conversations, figure out Jack's interests, find out more about this arrogant yet fascinating stranger. And in the beginning, all of his efforts went completely nowhere. At one point, he was even punched in the face for his trouble.

And yet, slowly, the villagers began to notice some gradual progress. When asked questions to which Jack had once responded with silence alone, he began to give monosyllabic answers, and later on entire phrases. When Kiryu invited Jack (for the twenty-sixth time) to play soccer in secret behind the village with the other boys, Jack began to subtly hesitate before he refused. The day he finally agreed to it was the day other villagers officially started to call them friends.

One fateful night, the pair had decided to take a quick walk around the village. Naturally, it had been ridiculously past both their bedtimes. But it was on this walk that Kiryu had thought and posed the question, "So, Jack, how did you get to our village, anyway?"

Allegedly, Jack had scanned the surrounding area warily before he answered, and even then with only two words: "I flew."

And the rest had been history.

* * *

Yusei joined Crow in his exploits once evening arrived. At least, that was what time the villagers believed it to be, as they were just preparing to have dinner. The assistant chief Jeager, a short, quirky man with a perpetual look of shrewd cunning on his face, announced that there was to be a feast that night, celebrating the return of their heroes. Both Yusei and Crow looked forward to it (though mostly Crow).

Crow informed Yusei of what he'd heard about the village, to which the man listened with indifference but not a lack of interest. When Crow got to Kiryu and Jack, however, he skimped a little on the details. Somehow Yusei wasn't too surprised at Jack having dragged himself all the way to another village. Only a few minutes of speaking to Jack and already most anyone would have gotten the sense that this man was possessed of an immense tenacity.

"Think he can really turn into a dragon, though?" Crow asked.

Yusei shrugged. "It's not really my business either way", he stated, prompting a long sigh from Crow. _Typical Yusei_. It was then that he noticed a gathering crowd near the village entrance.

"Hey, what's that?" he inquired, pointing, and Yusei followed his gesture. Without waiting for an answer (Yusei would probably just make some snarky comment anyway), Crow sauntered over to investigate.

Outside was a group of about five or six people in hooded, bright red cloaks, half with their arms outstretched. Twice that many scowling villagers had lined up and were attempting to chase them away.

"Abandon this place now, and join us!" one declared grandly. Too grandly. Her voice was practically a wail. "The Priestess, avatar of the Crimson Dragon itself, welcomes you! Do not be afraid to seek comfort and forgiveness in her light!"

Crow snorted. "Who do they think they're kidding?" he whispered to Yusei, though a bit too loudly. "Everyone knows the Crimson Dragon's been sealed away for a decade. Really, you'd think they believe everyone in this village is five years old or something…." A couple of the villagers snickered. One of the hooded figures appeared to have heard this too, a conclusion Crow intelligently deduced from the way he spun on the spot and glowered intensely. Yep, he'd probably heard. What surprised him, though, was that for a second, even Yusei smirked mildly in amusement.

_He's been doing that more and more ever since we met Jack and Kiryu_, Crow contemplated. _He can be as disinterested and sarcastic as he wants…but I'm getting the feeling he actually likes being around people._

"Hey, what's going on here?" someone behind them called. "What are you all doing here? The feast's about to start, you know." At this, the wall of villagers twitched and glanced back worriedly – and sure enough, a pair of long tables had been placed out and set.

The outsiders quickly took advantage of this hesitation, pressing in on the villagers, all chanting at once. "The Priestess of the Crimson Dragon can save you! The Priestess of the Crimson Dragon can s – ",

"Hey, hey, what's the commotion?" the voice spoke again, louder now, and a familiar face began to push its way gently through the crowd. Of course, once they saw who it was, they fell away easily.

"Kiryu!" Crow greeted, and the man addressed smiled back for a moment before turning to the red-hooded crowd. They retreated a few steps, and Yusei noted with some amusement that though Kiryu's right leg was firmly wrapped and he was leaning on a crutch, he could still make himself an intimidating figure. The fact that he was clutching a small handful of knives probably helped.

"You don't belong here, do you?" Kiryu asked the hooded men and women pointedly. "Maybe you should leave. There's no reason for you to stay here, right?"

"R-right", one mumbled stiffly, and in the blink of an eye they had scattered.

"I thought the Crimson Dragon's been defeated", Kiryu remarked, watching the hooded people go.

"Well, yeah, everyone knows that", Crow waved it off. "I bet they're trying to take advantage of people's fear in these times with false hope. Seriously, the things our world has come to…."

Kiryu nodded sympathetically, but said, "Let's not dwell on it for now, though. There's a feast to be had."

"Hell yeah!" Crow exclaimed, and followed eagerly.

Once they'd arrived at the table, though, it was hard to stifle a gasp. There must have been at least a hundred plates, each piled with carrots, or beets, or potatoes, or strips of meat, or corn. Mostly corn. Regardless, it was the most food either Yusei or Crow could remember seeing in one place. Crow set upon the dinner with zeal, and even Yusei had to remind himself that he was still recovering from starvation mode, and needed to gauge his intake cautiously.

"Try the meat", Kiryu recommended cheerfully. "It's rabbit. I caught them only a few hours earlier."

"You don't say", Yusei replied interestedly, then had to lean back as Crow swiped some for himself.

It was then that a well-dressed woman seated herself next to Kiryu. "So, the rabbit was yours?" she remarked. "No wonder nobody could find you after you and Atlas returned…. You shouldn't do that, Kiryu, everyone was so happy that you two were alive, and you run off to the surface without telling anyone…. And with that leg, too!"

Kiryu grinned a bit. "Sorry, Mikage. But you all should know that neither I nor Jack are that easy to get rid of!" At her unconvinced expression, he continued, "Besides, rabbits are easy. The trick is pinning their leg so they can't run away. It's not as if they could attack me or something."

"Yes, but still, if you had been spotted by something that _could_…."

"Sfeeking uff Jkk", Crow managed through a mouthful of food, "Whrr ss he?" When met by politely confused looks, he forced a huge swallow and chugged down half a glass of water before clarifying. "Where's Jack? I haven't seen him since we got back."

"Oh, he was probably in his room", Kiryu answered. He then glanced inexplicably at Mikage, as if expecting something.

She didn't notice. "I can confirm that", she nodded to Crow. "I saw him go in."

It was then that a ridiculously tall man appeared at Mikage's side. Yusei watched Crow balk visibly, and for once couldn't blame him – the guy had to be at least two heads taller than either of them, and muscular, with a scarred face. If Yusei didn't know otherwise, he'd be convinced that this man was the Surface-Envoy, not the skinnier, amiable Kiryu.

The tall man cleared his throat. "Er, Mikage, Kiryu", he said, "The chief would like a word with you."

"Eh? But we only just started eating, Ushio", Mikage responded in disbelief. "What would he want to say to us now?"

The man, now called Ushio, seemed to squirm on the spot. "Sorry", he replied, "I have no idea. But if he thought it was important enough to call you in the middle of the feast…."

"It's alright, we understand", Kiryu reassured, standing up. "I apologize about this", he said to Yusei and Crow, "but I guess I have to leave early."

"Oh, don't worry about it", Crow told him, going for another ear of corn. "You go and attend to your business; we understand." At this, Kiryu smiled gratefully and departed, leaving Yusei and Crow alone with strangers. They ate mostly in silence, with Crow making occasional attempts at conversation and Yusei occasionally responding. At least one joke was made about the villagers having stretched Ushio in his sleep for him to have achieved such a height.

Suddenly there was a great rumbling, and the ceiling seemed to tear itself open. Chunks of rock tumbled from above, crashing into tables, smashing into chairs. A child screamed and fell, his head split open from having taken a hit. But his cry was drowned out amidst the pained yells of everyone else – for now there was a gaping hole above them, and from it a blinding white light poured down into the village, seeping into every corner, filling every crack.

It was the light they had all abandoned. It was the forsaken light of the sun.

Yusei shaded his face with his arm and squinted valiantly, struggling to keep his eyes open, but tears were rapidly forming.

But just as suddenly as it had come, a large section of the light disappeared. The villagers glanced up hurriedly, only to meet the gaze of a wide, grinning black face.

Time stopped. An eternity passed. The appearance of this face had rendered the entire village shock-still with fear.

"_E-Earthbound!_" a woman finally screamed. It responded by leaning its enormous head down into the village and gently encasing her torso with its mouth. There was the sound of her ribs snapping as it squeezed, and blood splattered onto her long, flowing skirt. She immediately went silent.

Chaos instantly erupted within the village. Shrieking villager stampeded over shrieking villager in a desperate, half-blind, mass scattering. Crow and Yusei leapt from their seats and tried to avoid the onslaught. Yusei felt briefly for his pistol, before remembering he'd left it back in his room, and cursed under his breath.

It seemed rather as if the village had been plunged suddenly into Hell. The Earthbound rolled its eyes back into its head, displaying a set of crooked, hellish teeth before lunging. Its long neck arched, and a man was seized and raised by the arm. His thrashing form was suspended precariously in the air for all to see, as if the Earthbound God was gloating in triumph, before it threw back its maw and the man vanished into its gullet.

Yusei felt something slam into his shoulder as a tall form sprinted past him. Over the screams, he barely heard Crow shout Jack's name in shock, before a great shadow formed over their heads and something huge spread its length. He whirled around and found himself gaping.

A mere flap from the wings of the large, black-and-red dragon before him, and the vegetables on the table quivered and rolled. Thick horns curved backwards from a short snout with small eyes and saw-like teeth. Yusei saw the dragon scoop up a man and help him onto his back. Multiple rows of knives gleamed from the man's belt, identifying him almost perfectly as Kiryu.

Someone grabbed Yusei's upper arm. "I guess", Crow choked out, "Jack wasn't lying."

"They're insane", Yusei hissed nervously, backing himself into a wall in his effort to escape the range of the light. "Dragon he may be, but he's still not even as big as that Earthbound's head…!"

However, everyone else in the village didn't seem to care. Slowly but surely, people began to stop in their tracks. Slowly but surely, wails of horror became sobs of relief became straight-out cheering. Godwin seized the opportunity.

"Citizens!" he bellowed over the cacophony, "Certainly, an Earthbound has entered into our midst. And you panicked upon seeing it. That is perfectly understandable. But I also implore you to never forget that we have something _better_ than a God. We have _Jack, the Signer_!" And on this last word, the crowd swayed and exploded in claps and shouts of renewed hope. Even Crow began jumping and whooping.

"I don't see how a dragon's better than a God", Yusei muttered. No one heard him. He was fine with that.

* * *

Grasping as tightly as he could manage onto the dragon's shoulder blade, Kiryu was able to force himself into an acceptable seated position. The dragon beneath him growled indistinctly.

"What?" Kiryu said. "You know you have to talk more clearly while a dragon, Jack. Especially over all this noise."

Jack spoke again, this time in a low, guttural voice, but now his words were discernable. "Just so you know", he warned, "You don't necessarily have to help this time. In a few minutes, you'll find yourself without a ride and thus only one good leg as a support. And I'm not about to halt any assaults just because you can't handle it." Perhaps he'd spoken too loudly, however, because the Earthbound God stiffened and turned its gargantuan eyes in their direction.

Kiryu chuckled grimly. "Don't have such little faith in me, Jack. After all, I don't need legs to aim." He then adopted a quick, serious tone. "Anyway, let's get started. First things first, we need to get that thing's head out of here. It's too dangerous otherwise. Try to lure it out to the surface." He had barely finished his sentence before Jack charged at the Earthbound's face.

To what was probably Jack's slight disappointment, Kiryu made the first attack, launching a dagger skywards that struck near the base of the Earthbound's thick neck - it emitted a brief cry and its head shot forward, aiming for Jack's wing - but it was easily dodged - and the dragon swerved to dig his claws in near the back of its skull.

"Y'know what, Kiryu?" he commented loudly. "Instead of luring it out, I have a better idea!" Kiryu was barely able to protest before Jack began to gradually pull the Earthbound's head up through sheer force. It shrieked in dismay and shook itself vigorously in an attempt to rid itself of him - but Jack was a dragon, not a flea, and so he only clenched tighter - Kiryu, on the other hand, was saved only by managing to grab Jack's wing at the last second - "I told you so", Jack grunted - but stopped flapping long enough for Kiryu to haul himself back into position.

However, this was all the time the Earthbound had needed. With a terrible screech, it tore itself violently from Jack's claws, pink globs of some ectoplasm-like substance splattering from its wounds like blood - yet, it had miscalculated its own strength and momentum sent the side of its face straight into a wall - huge chunks of concrete rained down, throwing a thick cloud of dust into the air - and when the Earthbound emerged from it, it did so with fresh, jagged gashes - its right eye in particular looked damaged beyond repair.

Another of Kiryu's knives hit its mark, and the Earthbound turned in his direction - for a moment it seemed that the distraction had worked, until it turned again – and aimed straight for where Yusei and Crow were standing.

The people around Yusei yelled and jostled him and each other in their attempt to get out of range - Yusei himself barely leapt out of the way before - the Earthbound's head smashed into the wall that had been behind him – the resulting vibrations shook rocks from the walls. He promptly swore - had it gone berserk? - it slowly withdrew.

Crow, it seemed, had run in the other direction to avoid the attack. He strode over now, stumbling a bit over the rubble and looking extremely pale. "That was close, huh, Yusei?" he grinned weakly. Yusei was about to reply when the ceiling seemed to groan and creak – as if a great weight was being shifted, and he looked to see the Earthbound preparing to strike again - he barely even had time to register the thought when it lunged at them.

The entire village watched in shock as the long, hooked claws of a dragon sunk into the Earthbound's muzzle. The Earthbound God froze and seemed to panic, attempting to retreat, but was too slow. The dragon grasped the Earthbound's jaws and, in a series of sickening cracking and tearing noises, broke them apart, ripping the Earthbound's head from the corners of its lips to about of a fourth of the way down the neck. From above, there was a fearsome series of crashing sounds as what was presumably the Earthbound's body slammed into the ground.

Then all was silent, because the dragon who had just killed the Earthbound God was not Jack. It was a lithe, silver-and-blue dragon with a long neck and head, and it was standing right where Yusei had been.

Crow appeared to have gone into shock. The dozens upon dozens of people that lived in the village went dead still, and stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths. The new dragon before them seemed to shrink before their gaze, and started to back up slowly.

As always, it was not long before Godwin regained control of the situation. Rushing forward, he bellowed, "Kiryu! Jack!" and pointed at the dragon. "Capture him!"

"Wh-what?" Kiryu shouted incredulously, but Jack quickly regained his own composure – and with a roar, he flew directly at Yusei.


	6. I should assume

_The following is a story of a man who has yet to realize the scope of his destiny._

_The days of tribulation stretch on forever. Just when they thought they could rest, an ominous shadow appeared before them, preluding a new trial._

* * *

Yusei leapt into the air, spreading cerulean wings, and Jack swerved to avoid a collision with the wall – but surged back up once more – snapping red jaws narrowly missed long white neck – villagers crawled out from hiding places and under rubble to watch in awe and alarm as black chased silver through the air.

Crow stumbled to his feet. He hadn't quite recovered from his shock yet, and still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he knew he had to do something. Yusei, who had only transformed just now, didn't stand a chance against someone already familiar with fighting as a dragon. But what could Crow do about it? His eyes fell upon the dead Earthbound.

Shielding the light from his eyes with one hand, Crow scrambled up to the Earthbound's head and began to climb, using its enormous teeth as footholds – disgusting, but necessary. Hopefully, if he was standing on the Earthbound, he might somehow be able to catch Yusei's attention, and somehow try to convince him that fighting Jack wasn't worth the risk…. If anyone saw Crow, they didn't say anything about it – everyone else had their eyes glued to the aerial battle unfolding above their heads.

Yusei considered Jack's advantages: bigger, more powerful, balanced, experienced, and familiar with the surroundings. He then considered his own advantages: lighter, more streamlined, and that was about it. _I have to gain another advantage somehow_, he told himself, _or at least nullify one of his_. Jack aimed a slash at Yusei, also slicing through his thoughts in the process – Yusei folded his wings and dived.

"Ha! What does he think he's doing? He's handing me the height advantage on a platter!" Jack remarked, watching as Yusei spread his wings again, decelerating unsteadily, and began to pace the air slowly, mere yards above the ground. Seeing this, Crow began to jump and yell to get Yusei's attention, but to his horror, seemed to go unheard.

"Jack, stop this!" Kiryu shouted in alarm. "I don't know why Godwin wants us to capture him, but Yusei helped save our lives –", Jack began to dive towards the circling white silhouette below – "come on, I know Godwin tends to have good reasons, but we can't just take this at face value", – picking up speed – "and besides, he's _too low to the ground you'regoingtocrash_!"

Jack recoiled at this last statement and nearly turned over in a last-second effort to slow down – Yusei, it seemed, had been waiting for this. With a bestial cry, he shot past the larger dragon, launching himself through the light – past the gap in the ceiling – and into the sky.

Blue and white met blue and white as broad wings spread and Yusei began to slow. The eyes of a dragon quickly adjusted to the harsh glare of the sunlight flooding all around, and it took only milliseconds for the world of the surface to come into focus –

When Yusei was younger, over ten years younger, he had been taken on a brief road trip to the countryside. If he strained his memory very hard, he could still remember it with startling vividness – the blur of color as small house after small house flashed by the car, the towering, majestic trees, the slow, relaxed laze of farm animals in mottled shade. The lush, rolling green hills, and the wind that sang around him and mingled with his hair when he stuck his head out from the window.

This was no longer true. While highly unlikely to be quite the same area he'd visited then, he did not need a direct comparison to notice how much had changed up on the surface.

Perhaps, at a first glance, it was a nature lover's dream – thriving plants coated everything in a layer of green, while the stir of countless rabbits and miscellaneous other creatures rustled throughout. But upon a closer look, the land was choked with rampant weeds, the broken remains of a cottage were scattered on the ground, human bones strewn among them. Splintering tree trunks lay, trampled savagely by enormous feet, and the animals quivered and fled at the slightest flapping of his wings, as if constantly in terror, constantly afraid of something….

And, most jarring of all, there was no wind – not even a breeze. The air stood, shock-still in crawling fear, unable to move.

But Yusei had contemplated these conditions for too long. Something rocketed at him from behind, roaring with all the great and terrible force of a wildfire – he swerved at the last second and escaped Jack's grasp, but not before ivory claws raked the side of his calf. The curse he hissed under his breath came out as a low growl, and once he felt he'd put a good distance between Jack and himself, he chanced a glance at his leg.

The bright scarlet of blood stood in stark contrast to pale, silvery white-and-blue scales. Though not a very deep wound, it wasn't exactly shallow, either – it would have to be dealt with, and soon. But Jack was charging again – leaving no time to think –

The black dragon swiped powerfully – he could almost feel its strength – but Yusei was faster – flying higher and higher. Having successfully taken the fight outside, to the surface, he could now take full advantage of his better speed and larger wingspan – both of which had been limited in that cramped space underground – but no longer. Again and again, he patiently evaded Jack's assault – there was no need to win, only to outlast. If Jack tired first and reverted to human form, Yusei could flee, and then –

There was an odd sort of jolt in his stomach as he remembered Crow – if something happened, it would be Yusei's fault – but he pushed that thought away. Whatever the villagers wanted with Yusei, it certainly wouldn't extend to Crow…there was no reason it would…after all, it wasn't as if Crow was a Signer or anything – assuming, of course, that that had been the reason why Godwin had ordered Jack after Yusei in the first place….

Actually, something else had been bothering him as well…. Watching, poised, as Jack pulled some vigorous zigzagging motion to get to him, Yusei climbed higher in altitude and tried to fly behind the larger dragon – sure enough, Kiryu wasn't there. Perhaps Jack had felt that Kiryu would hold him back and decided to let him down – whether or not this had been against Kiryu's will, Yusei couldn't possibly know – but either way, it seemed this fight was between the two of them now.

Jack turned as if aiming to disable Yusei's shoulder, and Yusei prepared to block – but instead, Jack dived and seized the wound on Yusei's calf.

Yusei thought he had yelled, but heard the dragon's unearthly shriek – the pain was shooting needles along his leg – he writhed violently – a tail he seemed to recognize as his own shot up – there was a spurt of blood –

Jack roared and let go, staring at his left hand – where a finger had once been, there was now a bleeding stump. A minor wound, but serious enough to distract – Yusei grabbed the opportunity and spun away from Jack, but he was slowing down, and his wings beginning to ache – with dread, Yusei realized that he was quickly reaching his physical limit. He felt rather light-headed, and had begun to gasp for air – Jack, on the other hand, seemed eager to strike again, if anything – of course, considering it wasn't _Jack_ who'd been half-dead only several weeks ago –

Yusei pushed higher and higher, but his dodging was growing narrower and narrower. He was the faster one, more aerodynamic – yet Jack was closing the gap between them with each onslaught he attempted, to the point that Yusei could nearly feel the gusts of wind caused whenever Jack made another swing at him –

He couldn't afford to let the fight drag out any longer. The more it went on, the more likely it became that he could lose. _Most definitely, Jack has quite a bit of experience in fighting as his dragon form…and yet…he hasn't…so…I should assume…._

Yusei turned around to face Jack and fended off his next attack with a slash. Jack twisted in midair, if a bit painfully, and managed to avoid it – Yusei's sudden change in tactics seemed to have taken Jack off guard, but only briefly – Yusei would have been a fool to expect that Jack would falter for long – so this was his only chance –

Soaring directly above the black dragon, Yusei craned back his neck, opened his jaws, and –

At first, there was only a whitish flicker, but soon a silvery, metallic sphere formed before him, rippling like liquid mercury – Yusei saw Jack's eyes widen for a fraction of a second – Yusei threw his head forward, and the sphere shot from his jaws like a bullet, directly at Jack.

But he never got to see whether or not the desperate move had connected, for it had taken too much out of him – his vision blurred rapidly, spinning, swirling, mixing until all became black – he felt his wings go limp, then couldn't feel them at all – he got the vague sensation that he was falling – and then everything was gone, everything had disappeared, as Yusei fainted.

* * *

Kiryu gritted his teeth, and with one more burst of energy, finally succeeded in heaving himself over the rim of the hole, and then onto the surface. Panting heavily, he dragged his crutches out behind him and forced himself upright.

He was still rather annoyed that Jack had left him back underground when he'd objected to his friend's actions – but was also firmly determined to stop Jack from doing something he would regret. If it was one major flaw to the bold, loyal Jack Atlas, in Kiryu's opinion, it was his irrationally stubborn impulsiveness.

Now then, where was he…?

Kiryu didn't need to search for long. Barely a minute after he'd emerged, he spotted it in the distance – a great, hulking black silhouette with broad crimson wings, its hands closed, though not tightly, over something in its palm. He also recognized instantly that Jack's flight was not as smooth as usual, was even a bit lopsided, and in fact, was also growing increasingly unsteady by the second.

Fearing the worst, Kiryu hurried as quickly as he could to the draconic shape overhead. Jack drew closer, and closer, then the powerful flap of his wings blew back Kiryu's hair and there was a soft thud as he opened his enormous hands and Yusei's unconscious body rolled, if a bit roughly, onto the ground. The next "thud" was the sound of Jack's clumsy landing as he stumbled and began to fall. Kiryu was horrified to see a large, pale, raw-looking "burn" across the dragon's chest, and rushed forward to assist him.

As Kiryu did so, a transformation started to come over Jack – the black of his scales grew lighter, his neck gradually shortened, his wings shrunk and withered away, and scaly hide became soft flesh once more. By the time Jack collapsed onto the weed-dense ground, he was completely human. Kiryu helped him to his feet; not the easiest task as Jack was considerably heavier than he was. They stood unmoving for a moment, Jack leaning heavily as Kiryu supported him.

"What happened?" Kiryu urged. Even while remembering the nasty, pallid burn he'd seen, he was taking worried glances at Yusei, who – despite obvious breathing and seemingly good health otherwise – had a slowly-growing bloodstain on his calf. Wordlessly, Jack showed Kiryu his left hand, and Kiryu flinched visibly at what remained of the fourth finger.

"I…I can't believe you two would actually…", Kiryu began weakly, then stopped himself. "We need to get both of you to a medic." As wary as Kiryu was about handing Yusei over to Godwin without question, the situation had just spun out of his control. "Try to keep pressure on that wound, will you?" Jack obeyed immediately. As Kiryu headed clumsily towards Yusei, it occurred briefly to Kiryu that Jack was being unusually docile – but reminded himself that it wasn't as if Jack was stupid, obviously. Why _wouldn't_ the guy follow a piece of good advice?

On their tediously harrowing journey back underground, they were thankfully met by Ushio, Mikage, and Crow, who had also grown worried. The two men took Yusei's weight and watched that Kiryu didn't trip himself on the stairs, while Mikage assisted Jack - but not until Crow had finished a lengthy spiel on how Jack should have been ashamed of himself for actually going after Yusei. It was also then that Kiryu realized that something genuinely was up with Jack, for the man hadn't responded to a word of Crow's tirade, seemingly very interested in a small brown spider near his foot.

However, Kiryu wasn't able to immediately confront Jack about this. Even while allowing the medics to take Yusei away, Crow wasted no time in stressing that he would never have done so if Yusei hadn't been injured and exhausted, and Kiryu informed Godwin of his inclination to agree.

"Seriously, I thought Yusei and I were your guests! What do you even want with him, anyway?" Crow protested. (Godwin merely stood back and listened politely, something in his eyes suggesting he knew more than Crow - but it wasn't as if he could do much else; Crow's rants seemed to render recipients unable to get a word in edgewise.) "Give him a break! If he hadn't discovered his Signer powers at that moment, he would've been killed! I mean, did you even see that look on his face…! And then you had to go and be all, 'CAPTURE HIM, JACK' - yeah, real considerate, like a punch in the gut, very nice…."

Kiryu gently elbowed Jack as soon as his finger had been safely bandaged. When Jack looked at him, Kiryu gave what he hoped was a "let's leave them at it – I have something I need to discuss with you"-sort of gaze, and to his relief, Jack seemed to understand. While Crow's expression of annoyance distracted the villagers, they ducked behind a corner.

"What is it?" Jack asked, though his tone was unenthusiastic.

"What's up with you?" Kiryu answered.

"…What do you mean?"

Kiryu closed his eyes in exasperation. "Let's not stall, Jack. I've known you for years." When Jack didn't respond, he opened them and continued, "First of all…what in the world got into your head when you decided to antagonize Yusei? Sure, Godwin's been a good leader, and he wouldn't have asked anyone to capture a guest without reason – especially you, but that doesn't necessarily make every line of his reasoning correct."

"I…wasn't really thinking about it", Jack replied, avoiding eye contact. "But the way I reasoned it…from experience, most of the time I questioned Godwin, he turned out to be right in the end."

Kiryu frowned. Acting before thinking, instead of analyzing the situation on its own. Of course. That was definitely a bad habit of Jack's. Although this time, that natural impulsiveness seemed to have dragged someone else down as well.

"Well then, we'd better figure out what Godwin was thinking, then", Kiryu sighed. "Come on." He turned to leave, but Jack didn't follow. Pausing, he turned back again. "Is something wrong?"

Jack seemed to be debating some internal issue, turning it over and over in his mind. Kiryu waited for him to come to a decision – he'd learned it wasn't best to rush Jack when he was pondering something.

Finally, Jack voiced his concern. "I think...Yusei has fought as a dragon before."

Kiryu blinked. "What? That's ridiculous."

"And why is that?" Jack challenged.

"Well, he wasn't exactly convinced when you said _you_ could turn into one, was he?" Kiryu pointed out. "And he was clearly shocked when he transformed today…. Why do you think otherwise?"

"For one thing", Jack began, "he was definitely flying better than I did when I first transformed. Secondly, he held the transformation for a lot longer than I did when I first transformed. Thirdly, he knew enough about his dragon form's shape to rely on speed instead of power, instead of imitating me. And lastly…." Carefully, Jack unzipped his shirt halfway, to reveal the strange burn Kiryu had seen earlier. "He caused this."

Kiryu stared. "…He didn't."

"He did", Jack affirmed. "Shot some sort of a silver beam at me…. I'd never seen anything like it before. How did he know how to do that? Even I haven't discovered any special powers, and yet, he knew such an unusual one."

Kiryu was quiet for a moment. Reluctantly, he said, "I suppose we'll have to ask Yusei when he wakes up, then."

* * *

This turned out to be easier said than done. Godwin hadn't been kidding when he'd asked for Yusei's "capture", for apparently he'd locked Yusei up somewhere in the village and refused to let anyone know where or why – unless they had a private discussion with Godwin first. However, he still refused to see anyone who asked (specifically: Jack, Kiryu, and Crow), on the basis that he was "too busy".

Though Crow was quick to assume that Godwin was lying at first, he was also quickly forced to take back this accusation. The Earthbound God's attack on the village had caused too much destruction and chaos to be easily resolved – both Godwin and most everyone working under him was worked to the bone attempting to rebuild houses, clear rubble, bury the dead, and nurse the injured, among many other things.

Kiryu's concern for Yusei didn't seem to hamper his eagerness to help out – indeed, it seemed to strengthen his zeal, if anything. The sooner everything was restored to normal, the sooner they could work out the logic behind Godwin's decisions and assist Yusei – it was one stone for two birds, Kiryu seemed to have decided. After a while, Crow seemed to agree and join in too.

Crow proved to be a startlingly invaluable help in the rebuilding. Despite the fact that he wasn't as strong as Jack or Ushio, he had a natural knack with the village children. He easily comforted the frightened and the orphaned, dissolving their pain and instead motivating them to aid the others. However, he also wanted to emphasize that he was doing this for the children, villagers and Yusei, not Godwin. He was so firm in this, in fact, that he emphasized it every time Godwin walked by.

Which, considering that their work sent them and Godwin scurrying from place to place and meeting often, meant that Kiryu soon grew tired of Crow's "emphasis". It wasn't until Jack snapped, "We GET it, you don't trust Godwin; now shut up!" that Crow finally stopped.

Jack had become quiet and reserved, yet moody. He was still as prideful as ever, but tended to help out without question, and yet seemed perpetually distracted by something. Kiryu decided Jack was probably feeling remorse over Yusei's capture. Crow seemed to believe this too, for he'd stopped pestering Jack about the incident, and his politeness when he asked for Jack to pass some cement or carry a bucket for him had lost its biting, borderline-sarcasm.

In the meantime, Mikage had promised them to find out what she could about Yusei's condition, and Ushio had agreed to help her (as usual). However, it seemed there were no cracks in Godwin's diligent secrecy – until the third day, when they found out that the co-chief Jeager had been delivering Yusei his meals. But what seemed to be a good trail abruptly broke off as Jeager denied any knowledge or involvement. Kiryu's persuasion, Crow's threats, and even Jack's intimidation proved completely useless in changing Jeager's mind. They were about to give up and accept that Mikage had been misinformed, when Jeager caught Crow entertaining his son.

In the (rather heated) conversation that ensued, Jeager seemed to drop some major hints on Yusei's condition before taking his son and leaving.

From what Kiryu had overheard and could work out, it seemed that Yusei was doing alright, and was steadily recovering from both exhaustion and injury, though steps had been taken to prevent further transformation. Kiryu wasn't entirely sure about the next part, but it sounded as if Godwin had already spoken with Yusei, and if what was left of the rebuilding went well, then Godwin would soon agree to meet with them. This seemed to restore hope among the three. And true to Jeager's implied word, Godwin sent a messenger summoning them to his office the very next day.

Though Crow continued to (loudly) voice his suspicions all the way to Godwin's place, Kiryu was delighted. Finally, Godwin would explain his intentions to them. He knew it wouldn't be as bad as Crow was saying…or, at least, he hoped….

"Well, we wont know until we go in", Jack grunted aloud, as if he had read Kiryu's mind, causing Kiryu to jump. He'd been too absorbed in his thoughts to realize that they were already at Godwin's front doors.

And without one more word from either Crow or Kiryu, Jack pushed open the door and stalked inside, the arrogant slope of his posture contradicting the apprehension in his stride.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Sorry about how long it took me to upload this, everyone. I rather like this chapter, though, so I hope you agree enough not to pelt me with objects.

Haha, at least two of you guessed one of the sort-of twists this time. xD Well done, hmm?

Next time: Rexposition, as Godwin explains his motives! ...Theoretically, anyway. Do we really expect him to tell the whole truth? Didn't think so.


	7. Speaking of expectations

_This is still a tale about a man who defies fate._

* * *

Godwin was seated behind his desk, a small cup of coffee perched upon it. A stack of paperwork, several inches tall, stood next to it. He seemed to be working his way through the stack, but looked up politely when Jack and the others entered.

"So glad you could make it", he greeted, and gestured to the various chairs lined up neatly against the walls. "Please, have a seat."

Kiryu took a chair, but he was the only one. Jack stayed where he was, staring intently at Godwin, while Crow seemed to briefly forget why they were there.

"You have paperwork to do _underground_?" he observed incredulously.

"Of course", Godwin responded smoothly, as if this had been their intended subject all along. "Any manner of modern civilization requires some form of recording and organization."

"What", Jack cut in firmly, "did you want with Yusei."

Godwin smiled shortly, completely unsurprised at Jack's directness. "That, I'm afraid", he replied, "may take some time to explain." He paused. "Really now; those chairs can't fold in on themselves and crush you, you know."

Jack remained where he was, as did Crow, who had reassumed his stubbornly determined expression. Kiryu tried to shoot Godwin an apologetic look.

Godwin, however, only seemed mildly amused, as if witnessing an interesting, but not entirely compelling puppet show. "Let's see then, where shall I begin…." Crow had a strange and abrupt urge to tell him to "begin at the beginning". "Ah, yes…. As you may or may not know, it all starts with the Crimson Dragon...and its counterpart, the King of the Underworld."

Kiryu nodded attentively, and even Jack shrugged, but Crow said, "Well, I never learned much in the way of mythology."

"Oh, it's not terribly complicated", Godwin reassured casually. "The Dragon and the King are two powerful opposing forces, somewhere between entity and phenomenon. They are not quite living things, but nor are they exactly nonliving. The King of the Underworld is served by his subordinates, the Earthbound Gods, just as the Crimson Dragon was served by the Signer Dragons."

"…Was?" Kiryu and Crow repeated at the same time.

"I shall get to that in a moment", Godwin told them. "In any case, The Dragon and the King are archenemies, and would fight again and again. For a long time, the Dragon's side remained far stronger, and would easily push back the King's forces every time."

"But something went wrong, of course", Jack stated. He did not need to ask. _Otherwise, we wouldn't be here._

"Yes, it did…. Over the past century, the King's forces encountered an abrupt spike in power. The fight that ensued ten years ago naturally devastated the surface world. The Signer Dragons were killed. The Crimson Dragon had lost, and was sealed away by the King of the Underworld. In its last seconds of freedom, however, the Dragon revived as many of the Signer Dragons as it could, and transferred their souls to human children."

Crow stared. "It could do that?"

"Incomplete reincarnation is one of the powers of the Crimson Dragon, and it was most certainly not the first time a Signer Dragon had been sealed inside a human. In doing what it did, I suppose the Dragon wished to create hope for the future, even if it did end up estranged from its own servants…. The humans who received the will of the Crimson Dragon in this manner are referred to as Signers, as they carry the souls of the Signer Dragons."

"How many Signers are there?" Jack demanded.

"It's hard to say", Godwin admitted, clasping his hands before him thoughtfully. "Though the Crimson Dragon was said to have revived quite a few of the Signer Dragons, many of the Signers weren't able to make it safely underground during that fateful battle, and even fewer would have been able to survive the harsh conditions we currently live in for ten entire years."

"How do you know all of this?"

This time, Godwin seemed to hesitate visibly before speaking. "I…used to know a Signer. He was the one who told me everything. But that's not terribly important, as he's currently dead…. Actually, I would imagine that the number of Signers remaining could be counted on one hand. In fact, Jack Atlas, until Yusei Fudo came along, I was convinced that you might have been the only one left."

"And now we've finally gotten to the point", Crow noted. "So? Out with it. Why did you want to capture Yusei?"

Godwin gave a patient, unreadable smile. "Well, a Signer had just walked into my midst. By handing him a sudden, unpredictable challenge (in the form of Jack), I could see exactly what he was capable of – and therefore, whether or not he would be of any use to us."

"Use? For what?" Crow challenged. "Are you referring to Yusei as a tool?"

Godwin took a sip of his coffee before answering. "No. Merely, if he really does boast all the capabilities a Signer should, then he could help defend the village."

"But that doesn't mean you had to set Jack on him!" Kiryu protested as reasonably as he could, at the same time that Crow said, "That doesn't justify _capturing_ Yusei!" and Jack snapped "Bull!"

Godwin's smile disappeared. "Humanity has been oppressed for a decade now. For liberation, the power of the remaining Signers is vital."

"Still –"

"Don't you want to see mankind free again?" Godwin pressed, and there was an odd glint in his eyes as he did so. There was something unsettling about it – hungry, expectant even.

Everyone hesitated. _Well, of course it'd be good to see everyone freed_, Crow thought, a bit miserably, _but you…._Kiryu broke the silence first. "Well, what did Yusei say about it?"

It could have just been Kiryu's imagination, but he thought a vague sort of weary displeasure came over Godwin next upon his reply. "He was completely against the idea."

Kiryu blinked. "Eh?"

"Yes…he was very much set on it. Not fighting for the sake of humanity, that is."

"Oh, come on", Crow spoke up. "I mean, sure, Yusei's kind of antisocial, but he's definitely not a coward, and he wouldn't abandon someone in need…."

Godwin looked at him. "…Really, you might be putting a little too much faith in Yusei Fudo…. I have explained this all to him already and that was most definitely his response."

Crow faltered. "Well…."

Jack was about to elbow Crow, but Godwin, sensing weakness, pounced first. "In any case, ask him yourself if you don't believe me. Who knows, you may even be able to convince him to help us."

A look of realization came over Crow. "Oh- That's right!" he cried out, and the usual assertiveness manifested itself. "Where have you been keeping Yusei?"

"I can show you", Godwin replied, "but on one condition. Only one of you may speak to him."

"O-only one? Why?" Crow struck out immediately.

"I can go", Kiryu volunteered, almost simultaneously.

"No, I'll go", Crow cut in.

"No, I-", Jack began, then seemed to think the better of it and stopped himself.

Kiryu thought it over. "You can go", he told Crow. "You know him better."

_Only by a couple of weeks_, Crow admitted inwardly, but kept this thought to himself. Instead, he nodded at Kiryu.

"Very well then", Godwin concluded, clapping his hands once with a sort of satisfied finality. "Kiryu, Atlas, you two may either stay here or return to the village while you wait. Crow, I'll have my vice-chief escort you to Fudo's current location…. Jeagar!"

At Godwin's call, the shape of that sly man himself appeared around the corner in a matter of mere seconds. (Jack began to harbor a sneaking suspicion that he had been lurking nearby the entire time.) Jeagar's eyes fell upon Crow, and he smirked.

Crow made a weird face.

* * *

The trip to Yusei was rather long, yet mostly uneventful. Crow focused on tailing the back of Jeagar's ridiculous, bright crimson trench coat as it wound through the village. They did not speak, but every few minutes Jeagar would suddenly produce some sort of bizarre cackle out of nowhere, as if he knew something Crow didn't. Crow grew extremely fed up with this stupid habit after a while, and was about to aim a kick at the small man (friendship with his son be damned), when Jeagar stopped abruptly and turned.

"Yusei Fudo is in here", he said smartly, and Crow was surprised to see a nondescript blue door, which actually wasn't positioned too far from the rest of the village. Indeed, the only detail to separate it from one of the normal village homes was…nothing he could see, apparently.

"Two or three hours should be plenty of time, yes?" Jeagar smirked again and retrieved a key. "I'll leave you to it." He unlocked the door and opened it gracefully.

Up until then, Crow had been going over all that he wanted to say to Yusei – about what Godwin had relayed to them, and whether or not the part pertaining to Yusei was true, and on Yusei's alleged skills as a dragon, and speaking of that, Jack was sorry about what happened, really – but those notions got lost somewhere on the way from brain to mouth and all that came out was a relieved, "_Yusei_!"

The addressed looked extremely surprised to see Crow, who also found himself gaping. The next moment, Crow was talking as if his brain wasn't even attached to his mouth. "I thought you were a prisoner of Godwin? I was totally expecting iron bars and possibly chains, like a dungeon, but you get a bed? And a book? And _good food_?" Crow's eyes had fallen upon a plate of fruit upon the desk.

Oh, wait. Wasn't this supposed to be a serious conversation?

"Er, yes, I do", Yusei affirmed, still looking a bit shocked. "The book's rather preachy, though. I'm not fond of it." He hesitated. "…Speaking of expectations…wouldn't you…have left by now?"

"Left what?"

"The…the village…." _Surely you don't want to end up like me?_

"_Left_? And _abandoned_ you?" Crow seemed to swell at revulsion at the very idea. He appeared scandalized and slightly offended.

Yusei felt his stomach drop like a rock. _And to think, back then, I nearly tried to fly away…._

"Well, never mind that", Crow said, remembering all that he needed to discuss. "Did Godwin tell you about…?"

"The Signers and the Crimson Dragon?" Yusei finished for him. "Yes, he elucidated on all of that a few days ago." Or, at least, he was pretty sure that it had been a few days ago. Hours tended to crawl by, Yusei had learned, in solitary confinement.

"And do you believe him?"

Yusei considered this. "If I had met him over ten years ago, while we still lived on the surface, then I wouldn't have."

Crow nodded. "Okay." Honestly, in his opinion, it was just like Yusei to have such a rational, matter-of-fact answer. When Yusei phrased it the way he did, everything seemed to make that much more sense. Sometimes Crow wondered if Yusei couldn't put the entire world into perspective like that…if he weren't such a pessimist, anyway. "So…."

Yusei waited.

"Jack is sorry about the whole thing, by the way. He wasn't really thinking."

"Apology accepted." Yusei privately thought that the burn and the severed finger made up for it anyway…mostly. He waited some more.

"Oh, and, uh…Kiryu says hi."

Yusei raised an eyebrow. "…Greeting accepted." He waited some more.

"…Your leg looks like it's in pretty good shape."

"Yes, they bandaged it well. But I still spend most of my time on this bed." Yusei was still waiting.

"…Do you mind if I have an orange?" Crow gestured towards the plate of fruit.

"Help yourself", Yusei confirmed, slightly amused.

Crow hadn't taken two steps toward the plate when Yusei spoke again. "Don't you have something to ask me?"

Crow blinked. "Huh?"

"You've been dying to ask me something the moment you walked in", Yusei continued. "It's not like you to stall."

Crow chuckled a bit. "Er, yes, that's right." Had Yusei always been this perceptive?

"Well?" Yusei set his book down on the nightstand. "I've asked my awkward question. Feel free to ask yours."

Crow grinned in vague embarrassment. "Yes, but", he explained, "I think you already know what it is."

Yusei paused. "I might."

It was Crow's turn to wait.

"…And, Crow, I refuse to fight the Earthbound Gods."

_I was afraid of that._ Crow turned to him. "But…but why?"

Yusei's expression suggested that he was feeling uncomfortable, and he did not make eye contact, but there was a sort of grim determination in his face all the same. "I just…I just refuse. I can't fight. I won't."

"What are you talking about?" A hint of exasperation lingered in Crow's tone. "So, yeah, I don't like Godwin's methods either, but if you believe him…and you still don't want to fight for people's freedom…fight for the sake of not living underground anymore…. I know you, Yusei!" Yusei looked up quickly. "Please, don't argue – I know I only met you about maybe a month ago, and I know you're kind of…cynical and distant, but I know you don't like – _can't_ like this world. This world where people cower under the dirt in fear like moles or worms, because their home until ten years ago…has become an _overgrown wasteland_ crawling with gigantic _abominations_!"

"I know", Yusei whispered, his face now unreadable. "You're right. I know."

Crow let his hands fall to his sides. He hadn't even realized he'd been gesturing so wildly. "Then…why?"

"It is…I can't…." _But…._ Yusei lifted his head and stared at Crow, who stared back wordlessly. Neither spoke, for what felt like a very long time. _And yet…._ Yusei bit his lip. "Alright", he said softly, as if oddly resigned. "I'll tell you." _I suppose you've earned that right, at least._

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Hopefully this chapter is interesting besides the bulk of it being Rexposition, and hopefully the last few paragraphs aren't too cheesy. Ahahaha...

Speaking of Rexposition, do you feel like what Godwin revealed here has made the plot clearer, or more confusing for you? :D And how much do you think he has left unsaid?

Yusei's backstory for this AU will take up the next two chapters. I'll try not to make it three!


	8. I'm Yusei Fudo

_This is still a tale about a man who defies fate._

* * *

**Ten Years Before Present (Post-Apocalypse) **

"Shh…shh. It's okay, Yusei, it's all going to be okay."

Nine years old, Yusei Fudo buried his face into his mother's jacket, but found himself unable to cry. It felt like mind and body had gone into shock. The tears were there, he knew – he could feel them pushing at the backs of his eyes, trying to force their way out – but each was jostling and shoving against the other, and it was as if his tear ducts had become stuck and clogged from the effort of just trying to cry. It felt as if, sooner or later, his eyes would simply burst. Not too different from how his mind felt, really. But for now, he quivered and clung and tried to forget.

Tried to forget the deafening roars of that ghastly black leviathan, the shrill screams and shrieks of terrified people. Tried to forget the sheer chaos as the monster tore into the flesh of what had once been several businessmen and everyone else ran (anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, it didn't matter, just as long as it was _away_). Tried to forget the reverberating bellows of the man in blue and white as he struggled, even with his megaphone, to be heard over the pandemonium, shouting, "Evacuation! Evacuation! This way, this way!" Tried to forget the nauseating crunch as the great monster took his head….

Yusei was unable to fall asleep that night, the first time he'd ever pulled an all-nighter. Most kids his age didn't pull all-nighters. But it wasn't his fault. He was busy, he was really busy, he was really too busy. Busy trying to forget, trying to forget that they were underground and trying to forget that they could never go home again and trying to forget businessmen who ran too slowly and - _crunch_.

When he finally did sink into sleep, it didn't provide the solace, the "forgetting" that he had been hoping for. It couldn't, because when he dreamed, there were too many men there, too many men in blue and white. Too many megaphones and evacuations and – _crunch_.

Too much of too many things.

* * *

"Eat up, Yusei", his father grunted, passing him the bowl. The fire crackled and leapt, scattering dancing shadows on their faces.

Yusei took it. It was the most pathetic meal he'd ever seen. Calling it "gruel" might have been a compliment. But he didn't dare complain, because even then it would make no difference. He and his family had combed the next few…miles, probably, for food and hadn't scavenged so much as an apple core.

It was their two hundredth and sixty-second day underground. Yusei was okay now. Little by little, the nightmares had ebbed away, consumed instead by the sole need just to survive another day. He'd already had his tenth birthday, or at least he thought so, anyway. His parents had long lost count, and Yusei had no way of knowing that his tally was accurate, but even so he'd kept careful track – because some part of him was still sure that it'd all be over soon; that some great hero would arise or some fantastic bomb would be invented, and the monsters would go away and everything would go back to the way it had been, two hundred and sixty-two days ago….

So, his muscles ached, his feet screamed, and his stomach cried mutiny, but Yusei kept this tiny fire of private hope close, and ate his gruel without any comment.

Yusei's father raised his head, looking as if he was being nagged at by something, but also poised and alert. "What's that sound…?"

Yusei was about to reply that he hadn't heard anything, when a terrible screech tore apart the air and chilled him to the bone and his parents leapt to their feet and –

–And then it was upon them.

The next thing Yusei knew, he had been thrown off his feet and plunged into blackness. The fire had gone out. Pain quickly mingled with bewilderment – what had just hit him? Where had it come from? He forced himself upright, but a strong arm he instinctively knew to be his father's pushed him back down, just in time for the wind of an invisible blow to pass over their heads – or, well, was it really invisible? Yusei rolled over, letting his eyes adjust to the shadows, and saw it – an enormous black head, edged with a long, curved beak that tapered to a fearsome rapier. If not for the glowing white markings on its face that extended down its body, it would have been nearly undetectable in the darkness.

The Earthbound God lashed out again, and Yusei's mother leapt out of its way. It occurred to Yusei that the enormous thing seemed to be striking blindly. With the fire gone, it seemed that the vicious abomination could no longer see. (Had one of his parents put it out, hoping for this?) The next few times it struck, it came nowhere near to hitting any of them. Slowly, and keeping low to the ground as to make himself less of a target, Yusei's father grabbed his son's hand and began to inch in the direction of a side tunnel.

All at once, the Earthbound stopped moving, and Yusei's father halted along with it. It tilted the great head to one side and was very still. This confused Yusei, and he too stopped in his tracks. At this ceasing of movement, like a great heightening of the senses, the world seemed to intensify around him, the sightless behemoth before him seemed to swell even larger in size, and he gazed at it for an eternity that spanned the passing of a second, and yet even in this eternity he realized too late that he was breathing too loudly.

His father clasped a hand over Yusei's mouth – but he, too, was not quick enough. With a high-pitched shriek, the Earthbound's beak cracked through the air like a deadly whip in motion, and Yusei squeezed his eyes shut in terror, and then –

_Crunch_.

There it was again, that dreaded noise. The sound of two hundred and sixty-two days. Yusei heard it, but did not open his eyes. He felt that his back was pressed up against dirt, and figured that he must have backed up against the wall in fright, without even realizing it. (That didn't really explain why his hands suddenly felt warm and wet, though.) The Earthbound God was fast…too fast to dodge, maybe…he waited…but its attack never came.

He opened his eyes and thought he might collapse of shock. His back wasn't pressed up against the wall, it was…pressed up against the ceiling. Somehow he was taking up all the space in the corridor, neck arched against the roof, palms pushing against the ground. Except that they weren't his hands – because each finger boasted a hooked claw the length of a…a bike tire, at least. And said claws were currently crushing the neck of a birdlike Earthbound into pulp. It had died quickly, but that sadistically pointed beak was still partially ajar, trapped in the hateful death-song of surprise and fury.

Yusei relinquished his grip on its corpse and tried to back away, but suddenly he had become the behemoth and the tunnel was too small for him. To his dismay, he promptly stepped on his own tail (thereby discovering that he _had_ a tail), and winced loudly – or thought he did, because all that came out was a pained-sounding growl.

From the corner of his eye (which was suddenly far more acute than before), he caught sight of his parents. His mother's expression communicated little more than dumbstruck shock, and she was grasping, perhaps unconsciously, at the wall for support. His father staggered once – eyes wide, mouth thin, face white. Well, not that he could blame them, actually. Yusei was feeling a bit disoriented and off-balance himself….

With this thought, the world seemed to expand and fold in on him, and Yusei felt that his back (or his wings, or their membranes) was starting to chafe rather painfully against the ceiling, and then he didn't feel the ceiling at all. Instead, there was the vague sensation that he was falling backwards, and….

* * *

When he next opened his eyes, Yusei found that he was lying on his back, rather dazed. He flexed his fingers against the dirt, and felt the scrape of dirty and slightly chipped fingernails in the stead of deadly, honed claws. So, he had transformed back.

At this movement, his mother's worried face entered his field of vision almost instantly. The slight aura of stunned confusion still lingered about her, but her main expression was that of concern. "Yusei, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine", Yusei told her, and tried his hand (well, tired face muscles) at a reassuring look. "But…I don't really get what just happened any more than you do."

"There's nothing wrong with that", she informed, and embraced him. He returned the hug, if a bit awkwardly, and sat up once she had let go.

This turned out to be something of a mistake. As soon as he had straightened, his head whirled as if plunged into a small tornado, and he quickly lied back down again, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to dispel the sudden nausea. Though confused at first, he quickly realized – that transformation from before must have drained his energy terribly. Wait…but in that case….

Yusei turned his head carefully as to avoid coaxing the dizziness back again, and gratefully found that it did not return. He spotted his father stoking the fire again – not to mention mussing his own hair, a habit of his when lost in thought – and asked, "How long have I been out?"

"Only five minutes or so", his mother answered for his father. "You seemed to grow dizzy and fell over…. You transformed back as you fell, and your father caught you and laid you down. Are you sure you're alright?"

Yusei took a moment to consider how he might word his condition without promoting unnecessary fuss. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm just exhausted…I'll be fine."

His mother nodded and did not ask again. His father, on the other hand, turned to them, looking troubled. "I…may have heard of something like this happening before."

Yusei's mother glanced up with such speed that Yusei felt dazed just watching her. "Wh-what…? When was that, dear?"

"It was…not too long before the…Earthbound incident, actually", Yusei's father admitted. "A few months before those accursed monsters appeared, I was working late one night…and received an unexpected visit from a coworker."

* * *

Dr. Fudo bent only slightly over the keyboard, murmuring gently to himself, watching with an intense focus that was nearly intimidating as fragments of code scrolled slowly down the screen. Almost haphazardly, he found a small typo and automatically corrected it. The clock read 21:47, signifying that he had been at the lab for over twelve hours now, but in truth, he hadn't felt more awake in some while. There was something about this particular segment of code that begged his attention, seized upon it, and refused to let go. He remained in his seat as if magnetized. Perhaps it was fate then, that he was there to witness when a tall figure stumbled through the door.

Though, he might not have even noticed had said figure not proceeded to knock down the trash can. Dr. Fudo jumped and spun around in his chair, the small-but-harsh light of his computer screen just enough to illuminate the face of the intruder, who at the moment was bent double and leaning heavily on the wall.

"R-Rudger?" Dr. Fudo nearly sputtered in his disbelief, and leapt to his assistant's side, only to receive his second shock of the evening.

Rudger's face seemed as if it might have jumped out from a horror film. His eyes were wide and staring, and his cheeks were streaked with sweat and redness as if from overexertion, but the rest of his face was as pale as death itself. He twitched and shivered visibly, and when Dr. Fudo approached, Rudger grabbed weakly at his sleeve and mumbled incoherently.

"What? What is it? What's happened to you?" Dr. Fudo demanded urgently, but decided that allowing his assistant to calm down came first. He attempted to maneuver Rudger over to a chair, but the man proved too heavy. Straining, Dr. Fudo pulled the nearest chair over with his foot instead and heaved Rudger into it.

Rudger then found himself facing the light of Dr. Fudo's screen, the sight of which seemed to slowly relax him. Steadily, his breathing slowed, and the pallor of his face returned to normal. Dr. Fudo waited patiently for the man to collect himself. In several minutes, the only obvious hint to Rudger's previous, panicked state was the damp vestiges of sweat upon his face.

As Rudger stared blankly forward, it seemed to Dr. Fudo that the man still wasn't quite in his right mind yet, though he couldn't put a finger on why he thought so. But at the very least, he appeared to be calm enough to answer some questions, so Dr. Fudo asked again: "What happened to you?"

Rudger looked at him, and hesitated for several seconds before answering. "I have been chosen by the Crimson Dragon."

Dr. Fudo blinked. Of all the answers he might have expected, this was most definitely not one of them. "Pardon?"

"I can fly", Rudger whispered. "I have wings. I have claws. I have scales." Seeing Dr. Fudo's bewildered expression, he lowered his gaze. "I am sorry. It is not easy to explain to one who has not been blessed like I have. But…I can do so much more now. If I wished to, then…" He hesitated again, as if contemplating a thought he found intriguing but did altogether approve of. "…I could kill you."

"Dr. Fudo", someone stated abruptly, and the person who was named whirled around again to receive his third shock of the night – his other assistant was standing casually in the doorway. "Please forgive my brother. He has had a little too much to drink tonight. I apologize that he bothered you; it will not happen again. Do you mind if I were to take him off your hands?"

Dr. Fudo glanced between one assistant and the other, but Rudger seemed to have no more to say. And so, he saw little more choice than to reluctantly oblige.

* * *

"My transformation has something to do with this…'Crimson Dragon', then?" Yusei asked immediately.

"Perhaps, and perhaps not", his father mused. "Either way, I suppose I should have paid more attention to the incident when I could have. When I spoke to them again the next morning, Rudger seemed to have no recollection of what had occurred, while his brother continued to insist that it had only been the ramblings of an unfortunately drunken man…. At the time, I couldn't think of any better explanations, so I simply accepted that as the truth. But now…it seems I was wrong to have let the incident go so easily."

"Well, that's all in the past now, and you can't change that", Yusei's mother replied. "Rudger and his brother might not even be alive right now. What's important now is to figure out what this means for Yusei."

"I think", Yusei began carefully, "that, if I really _can_ shapeshift because of the will of the 'Crimson Dragon' you mentioned, then maybe I should put it to use."

"To use?" Both of his parents glanced at him. "For what purpose…?"

Yusei said nothing, but both of his parents caught the obvious way his gaze flickered to the prone corpse of the Earthbound God.

"You can't!" Yusei's mother blurted out immediately. "They're monsters! And you're…."

"A dragon!" Yusei insisted.

Yusei's mother opened her mouth to protest again, but Yusei's father got there first. "Yusei", he said sternly, "do you remember why your name is 'Yusei'?"

Yusei faltered. "It…it's for the Yusei particle you discovered, Father, which unites other particles and brings them together…just as I am meant to do."

Yusei's father nodded. "Now, if your transformation ability can help to relieve humanity of the Earthbound Gods that are terrorizing us, and to unite our fragmented people, then I think it should be used for just that."

"Dear!" Yusei's mother cried out, but Yusei's father held out a hand for her to wait.

"However", Yusei's father continued, "please consider the situation. You have only just learned to transform. It was not of your free will, but through sheer instinct. You successfully defeated an Earthbound, but it was entirely by accident. Afterwards, you were unable to maintain the form and momentarily lost consciousness. Do you understand the point I am trying to make?"

"I…I believe so", Yusei answered.

Yusei's father looked him in the eye. "My point is, before you plan to bring others together, you must first bring _yourself_ together. Do you understand?"

This time, Yusei nodded. "Yes, Father. I understand."

* * *

Despite his father's words urging caution, however, the truth was that Yusei could barely wait to begin his campaign against the Earthbound Gods. Transforming into a dragon turned out to be easier than he had originally guessed – the real trick to it was the energy that it drained out of him.

A few times a week, Yusei was allowed to practice changing into a dragon. This was just as well, too – Yusei didn't think he could transform much more frequently than that. The second time he transformed, he lost consciousness as well, but only for two minutes. The third time, he keeled over, but did not pass out. The fourth time, he could maintain his balance almost perfectly.

After that, he practiced mostly his endurance. During the first few sessions, transforming required so much energy that he was literally unable to shapeshift for two days afterwards. However, he became used to it quickly, and soon found that he was able to hold the transformation for up to fifteen minutes. And, as if the ancient symbol of the dragon had brought new fortune to them, it seemed that even food was starting to become less scarce as well. No longer were Yusei or his parents kept up all night by the voracious, double-team gnawing of thirst and hunger.

Luckily for Yusei, it seemed that progress fueled progress. With the apparent and unexpected surge in food supply, he had more energy to practice maintaining his dragon form. Staying transformed for nearly a half-hour each day, Yusei learned to use his long and unwieldy tail to his advantage, instead of allowing it to trip up his movements. He began brief monthly excursions to the surface, both to test his flying skills and to bring back food for his family. His mother worried for him every time, of course, but always trusted her son not to try anything too reckless.

And so their lives went on in this manner, for a couple of years. There were a few close brushes with Earthbounds, but Yusei never got the chance to confront them.

But, of course, there eventually came the day when everything changed.

* * *

**Seven Years Before Present (Post-Apocalypse)**

Navigating the narrower tunnels of the underground had always been a bother in dragon form. For this purpose, though, at least the dragon's keen eyes were a godsend.

Taking advantage of an open space to flap his wings before tucking them in tightly, Yusei entered the next tunnel at a slight downward angle. The resulting landing was not his most graceful, and threw up vast clouds of dust, but he had achieved his purpose.

"Welcome back", his mother greeted as he gently laid down what he had just harvested – a good pound or two of fruit, taken from the surface. There were no animals caught this time. "You took longer than usual this time, Yusei – I was beginning to grow worried…."

Yusei looked around, his crest dangerously close to brushing the ceiling. "Err…. Where's Father?" he asked in as quiet a tone as he could manage, which still came out as a low growl.

"Collecting water in the bowl you found last week", his mother answered. "We just happened to find a small reservoir nearby while waiting for you. I imagine he should be back any minute n –"

"YOU TWO! RUN!"

Yusei's mother whirled around, while Yusei's head really did hit the ceiling in his surprise. Yusei's father was sprinting as neither had ever watched him sprint before, the last droplets of water trailing from a small, slightly cracked bowl he held in his hands. Gradually gaining on him was an enormous Earthbound, alighted by its own eerie blue light, the low ceiling forcing it to move forward on all fours. The first thought Yusei had upon seeing it was that it seemed to have no head, and then he thought no longer. Snarling with both aggression and excitement, Yusei lunged forward, and felt a rush of adrenaline as his first slash connected with the Earthbound's shoulder.

The Earthbound roared in agony and staggered, its humanlike arms bulky, but not necessarily suited for supporting the weight of its upper body. Yusei was about to attack again, when he felt a tug on his tail and heard his mother's voice: "No! Don't fight it, Yusei! You don't have the time to –" Yusei instinctively strained to look back, thus exposing his neck, and immediately regretted it.

In the next moment, an unimaginably crushing force had clamped itself upon Yusei's neck. His jaw fell open as if to scream, but could not manage even a strangled croak. The Earthbound had reached out with one gargantuan palm and fastened it around his throat, and in that instant, it seemed that head and body had already disconnected. The dragon's mouth opened and closed, opened and closed. What was air? What was breathing? One moment of complacency had cost him! A dragon? He didn't feel like a dragon. More like a dying fish, or perhaps a drowning man.

He dimly felt his feet leave the floor and panicked, thinking that the Earthbound had lifted him up…but wait, was that possible? The touch of his mother's hands left his tail, and the Earthbound's grip…loosened? No, it wasn't, it couldn't…. Yusei lifted a palm, and froze with dread as he watched silver scales darken and regain their color, watched claws retract and round out into grubby, worn nails. Now he understood. His mother had just warned him, he didn't have the time to fight, and she had been right. His endurance had reached its end. He was turning back into a human.

The Earthbound God paused for a moment, evidently confused that it was suddenly holding a young boy instead of the dragon neck it had clearly been grasping earlier. But it recovered quickly. Its grip tightened, and this time Yusei really did yell in pain. His arms were pinned to his sides, his ribs were on fire! He heard something snap, and pure agony shot through his left shoulder – he closed his eyes instinctively, and then –

All of a sudden, the Earthbound roared, the vice-like grip fell apart, and Yusei felt himself plummet…into what felt like someone's arms. Yusei opened his eyes in time to witness his mother falling back from the force of having caught him.

He stuttered something vague in his shock that was quickly interrupted by a yelp from his father. Ignoring the stabs of pain traveling up his arm, Yusei scrambled frantically to his feet and looked up.

Still howling in pain, the Earthbound swung its arm at Yusei's father, who barely leapt out of the way. Clasped in his bleeding palms was a jagged chunk of rock, while a similar one was lodged deep into the Earthbound's ankle. Now Yusei knew what had caused the Earthbound to drop him. Even as he realized this, however, his father could not run from the giant forever. He felt an urgent tug at his sleeve, no doubt from his mother again, which then froze as the Earthbound painfully tore the rock from its foot and plunged it deep into the stomach of Yusei's father.

_Crunch._

"_NOOOOOOOO!_" Yusei screamed, and moved to run forward, but his mother found her strength again and forced him down. What little he saw of her face seemed to be in hysterics – jaws clenched as to avoid crying out, tears streaming down her cheeks in abrupt rivulets. And yet, she somehow maintained her calm.

"Let me go, Mom!" Yusei shouted, even while she grabbed him with both arms and clutched him tightly to her chest. "LET ME GO!" That couldn't be his father, obviously. It wasn't possible. His father wouldn't die…not to a monster like that. It wasn't possible. His father was strong…his father was smart…his father believed in him…. Surely, his father wasn't that torn and bleeding corpse in the corner. Surely, an Earthbound hadn't just severed his father's arm from him. Surely, those weren't his father's sinews and intestines strewn across the floor. Surely, his father wasn't…_wasn't…could not be…not in a million years would he ever…._

"Y-you…you have to run, Yusei", his mother choked out, and he could feel her shuddering from the sheer effort to force back her tears. "I'll delay the Earthbound. You…you must go on. You must survive."

"_What are you talking about?_" Yusei nearly lashed out at her, both sides of his face burning with tears. Was she asking him to abandon his father and save himself? _…But that ISN'T your father, remember? It isn't…!_

His mother spoke no more, so he did not either. Slowly, she got to her feet, and pushed him behind her, in the opposite direction of the Earthbound. The minute she let go, however, it seemed as if his legs were no longer connected to his mind – because he ran.

He ran on, and on, and on. He ran through tunnel after tunnel, as fast as his legs could possibly carry him, and still he ran on. Soon, he had run for so long that every step created burning needles in his legs, and still he ran on. He did not know where. He did not know why.

He no longer cared.

* * *

Yusei opened his eyes to a looming stack of hay. No, wait…that wasn't right. He squinted a bit. Was it a giant carpet? …In front of his face? _Get a grip on yourself, Yusei._ He blinked a few times to clear his eyes, and now that he had, the object turned out to be a makeshift roof, clumsily built from straw mats bound together and layered atop each other. He closed his eyes. He couldn't remember why, but it felt as if heavy weights were strapped to every muscle in his body. He could hardly move, much less summon the energy to care what the ceiling looked like, so he slipped back into slumber again.

* * *

When he next woke up, it felt like several hours might have passed. Or days, whichever it was. Even though sunlight was impossible underground, he distinctly remembered his surroundings being darker last time he'd awoken…. Speaking of which, where was he? Now that he was better-rested, he felt much more alert. From what he could feel, he seemed to be on…a bed? With a pillow and a blanket, to boot…. Exactly how had he wound up here? The last thing he remembered was….

_Crunch._

No. No, he didn't want to remember that.

"How are you feeling?" someone asked, and Yusei was surprised to hear the voice of an elderly man. He turned his head to see a wrinkled face peering serenely down at him through thinly cracked glasses. The old man's Japanese was halting and had a slightly unpleasant accent, but otherwise was not difficult to understand. The man retreated to his seat, a wooden chair in front of a beaten desk. Perched upon the desk was a lamp that flickered every now and then, explaining the source of the light. Yusei opened his mouth to speak, but the man held up a finger to stop him. "Well, your life doesn't seem to be in danger. Alright. You must have many questions, so I'll try to answer as many as I can." He paused for a moment. "My name is Ansel, and this is my house. One of our village kids found you unconscious a few miles from here – Saiga, it was, and – "

"Oh, is he awake?"

Yusei turned his head again. This time, the speaker was a tall man in his late twenties or his thirties, his bangs conspicuously longer than the rest of his brown hair, a cloud of stubble shadowing the lower part of his face. Though his clothes were dirty, they were not altogether un-presentable. A tattered bag was clutched in his wide, bony hands.

"See for yourself", Ansel chuckled to the newcomer before gesturing towards him. "Yusei, this is Saiga. He's the one who brought you here to the village."

Yusei couldn't help himself. "…Is he your definition of a 'village kid'?"

Saiga burst out laughing. "Oh, don't mind Ansel here", he managed through thick guffaws. "He calls everyone 'kid'."

"I've wanted to do that ever since I was fifteen, and now that I'm in my old age, it's finally justified", Ansel quipped, and Yusei wasn't sure whether the man was being serious or not. "Oh, and Saiga, is that…?"

Saiga quickly recovered himself. "Yep, it's what you asked for", he said, sounding quite triumphant. "Though, some of them were _very_ difficult to get my hands on. I hope you're grateful, old man."

"Saiga, Saiga", Ansel commented, taking the bag from him, "you know couldn't possibly repay you for how much you've done for me, even with my life. Truly, my gratitude should go without saying."

This last statement reminded Yusei of his own situation. "I'm very grateful too, for your saving me", he said quickly, and gave the strongest nod he could possibly muster while lying down, in hope that it would invoke the image of a polite bow. In this movement, something strained against his right shoulder as if tightly bound there. He moved the blanket slightly to find that said shoulder was wrapped in bandages.

Saiga smirked, but it was an expression of friendliness, not arrogance. "No need for the formality. We 'underground-ers' ought to help each other out – we're all in more or less the same boat, after all."

Yusei wasn't sure how to respond to this. In the three or four years he'd spent traveling with his family, most of the other people they'd met underground had been flighty, selfish, mistrustful types – the kind who guarded their food and supplies with the fierce attentiveness of a watchdog, and were quick to swipe yours if you turned away for even a moment. Sure, they'd heard of how several villages had formed despite the universal hardship, but hadn't bothered to think much on them due to how rare they were rumored to be. Never before had Yusei imagined that a village might be a place where an unconscious boy might be taken in and given refuge, instead of being searched for useful belongings and left for dead.

It was then that Yusei realized how hungry he was. But first, there was still something he had been wondering about. "Ah…Mr. Ansel?"

The old man turned to him. "Just call me Ansel! Everyone does."

"Okay…. Ansel, exactly what's the name of this village?"

Ansel nearly tipped his chair over in his laughter. "Well! To tell you that you're in a village, and then forget to tell you its name…I must be going senile." He adjusted his glasses and smiled at Yusei. "Welcome, my friend, to Satellite Village. And, you are…?"

"I…I'm Yusei. Yusei Fudo."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Important! **I am going to be modifying some of the earlier chapters for a while, but it's no major changes - just minor fixing, so you can ignore it. You might not even notice a difference.

Now that that's been said, I am very, very sorry for the delay regarding this chapter! ;n; The summer is actually a very busy time for me, but that doesn't justify the fact that I'm two months late. I'm truly sorry. Hopefully the fact that this chapter is almost twice as long as usual makes up for it a little. (Then again, it's the darkest installment so far.)

Believe it or not, we're still not even CLOSE to done with Yusei's backstory. The next chapter is just as long as this one... That reminds me, I still haven't let everyone know how I write these chapters. I sort of work on two chapters at once, to be sure I don't make any continuity errors. That also explains a little about why I'm so slow. OTL OTL OTL But in any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (In some form, anyway.)


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